Heather Lawless came close to never existing on this earth. Due to her mother’s medical condition, Lawless’ mom was advised by her physicians and her family to have an abortion.
“There was an abortion appointment made, and she didn’t show up to it,” Lawless said of her mom, adding, “She chose life for me, and I was able to experience the life that I have now.”
When Lawless had an unplanned pregnancy herself, she chose life, and years later when her daughter found herself unexpectedly pregnant, Lawless supported her as her daughter chose life as well.
Her mother’s story and her own are “the main reasons why I started Reliance, why I do what I do,” Lawless said.
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She founded Reliance Ministries and the Reliance Center in Idaho to serve women facing unplanned pregnancies.
“We have a four-part model that includes a holistic reproductive health clinic and a men’s program, a maternity home and a coffee shop,” Lawless explains.
“We wanted to figure out whatever the barrier was to life and remove the barrier,” she explains, adding that, for example, “if a woman wants to choose abortion because she doesn’t have a place to live, we want to give her a place to live.”
Whether the obstacle to choosing life is housing, health care, finances, or an abusive relationship, Lawless says she and her team at Reliance Ministries seek to eliminate and overcome the barrier for the mother so she is free to choose life.
Lawless joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share her own story and how Reliance Ministries offers a practical model for pregnancy resource centers around the country.
LifeNews Note: Virginia Allen writes for The Daily Signal, where this column originally appeared.
