Angela Stanton-King gave birth to her first child at age 15. She spent time in jail for participating in a car theft ring and gave birth to another child while chained to a bed.
At one point, when she became pregnant again, she had an abortion – a decision that still causes her pain. After getting out of jail, she spent time as a homeless mother of four, desperate for someone to give her another chance.
Then, she found pro-life leader and mentor Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With her help, Stanton-King turned her life around, and now she’s helping other mothers do the same.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Stanton-King just opened a maternity home in Atlanta, Georgia, where the law protects most unborn babies from abortion.
Her non-profit, Auntie Angie’s, offers free housing, mental health counseling, food, clothing, job training and more to homeless women and children for up to two years. Right now, the maternity home has one mother, Wyquita Jones and her baby, but it has space for up to four, according to the report.
Jones, who did not realize she was pregnant until her third trimester, said she did not have anyone to help her before she found Stanton-King.
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“She helped me with trying to get on my feet and move on and do better things for myself,” Jones told the newspaper.
Stanton-King, a pro-life advocate and author, said she lived in a maternity home herself as a young teenager; her father had pressured her to have an abortion and she refused. Through her own experiences, she said she knows how critically important it is to provide support to pregnant and parenting moms in difficult circumstances.
“I realized when they overturned Roe v. Wade that there was a need to do much more than talking,” she told the newspaper. “I understood how mothers felt without having any help. I understood that moment of desperation, feeling like not only did you want to give up, but you wanted to give up on your kids too, because you didn’t have the help with the assistance that you needed.”
Stanton-King remembered how pro-life leader Alveda King gave her a chance when no one else would, and said she wants to do the same for other moms in need.
“I just want to take my story and my experience and just show women there are other options out there,” she said. “I’m not here to make anybody do anything. But, if you decide that you do want to choose life, then [Auntie Angie’s is] a resource here to help you and your baby.”
All across the country, pro-life advocates are working to increase support services for pregnant and parenting mothers. New pregnancy centers and maternity homes are opening, and Catholic colleges are creating dorms for parenting students with daycare facilities and adding babysitting programs, lactation rooms and other pregnancy/parenting resources. Pro-lifers also frequently raise money and host online baby showers to provide financial and material support to mothers and babies in need.
Many pro-life state lawmakers also have increased funding for pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes, expanded Medicaid and workplace accommodations for pregnant and parenting employees, and created tax credits and other measures that recognize unborn babies as valuable individuals.
