Ultrasounds are an integral part of the ministry of Prestonwood Pregnancy Center. Seeing their baby and hearing the heartbeat is often what God uses to change the heart of a baby's mother and father. In June, clinic workers performed more than 700 ultrasounds.
The Psalm 139 Project, a pro-life ministry of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), will place 10 ultrasound machines at pregnancy resource centers across the country in the first half of 2021, the ERLC announced Dec. 10. The Psalm 139 Project usually coordinates the placement of one or two machines per year.
The initiative is part of the ERLC’s efforts to prepare “churches to be ready for a post-Roe cultural moment,” according to a press release. The year 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion in many circumstances.
The Psalm 139 Project equips pregnancy resource centers with ultrasound machines and provides training for their use. In 2020, Psalm 139 placed a machine at Mosaic Sexual Health Clinic in Tallahassee, Fla., and another at Care Net of Las Cruces in Las Cruces, N.M.
“Even in a year of grim pandemic, the Lord is at work. This massive new initiative in our ERLC Psalm 139 ministry is one of the most exciting developments I have seen in a long, long time,” said ERLC President Russell Moore. “With this new development, we are able to take our ministry of partnering with pregnancy resource centers to help preborn children and their mothers to a warp speed.
“We pray for the day when such ministries are not needed – when every human life is protected and valued. But, until then, one of the most important aspects of pro-life ministry is to take away a primary tool of a culture of human disposability, and that is the invisibility of the vulnerable.”
Daniel Patterson, executive vice president of the ERLC, said the Psalm 139 Project plays a significant role in fulfilling the ERLC’s mission.
“Right at the core of who we are is our charge to stand athwart the wickedness of the abortion industry with a vibrant gospel witness. That’s why the ERLC has placed two dozen life-saving ultrasound machines across the country in recent years. Because the stakes are so high for these children, we felt a God-given restlessness to do more,” Patterson said.
“By God’s grace, we’re placing 10 machines over the next six months. That’s 10 times the number of machines placed and centers served in a normal year, and we hope it will result in many more the number of women served and lives saved.”
Elizabeth Graham, vice president of operations and life initiatives for the ERLC, said the Psalm 139 Project “allows the ERLC the honor of stewarding 100% of the donations it receives to place machines and train staff in pregnancy resource centers. By partnering with generous supporters, we are able to play a part in protecting the lives of preborn children by supporting these centers who, in turn, support women in need.”
Six North Carolina Baptist churches, in partnership with Psalm 139, helped provide an ultrasound machine for the Human Coalition’s Raleigh Women’s Clinic in October 2019.
One hundred percent of financial contributions designated to the Psalm 139 Project go toward purchasing ultrasound machines and providing training for workers. Learn more at psalm139project.com.
