MERRILLVILLE – With the State of Indiana’s abortion ban scheduled to take effect this month, parishes throughout the Diocese of Gary are continuing, and in some cases stepping up, efforts to support a culture of life that meets the needs of women and families struggling with crisis pregnancies.
One support programused by parish groups is Walking With Moms in Need, introduced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2020 as an initiative to develop educational, pastoral and action-oriented resources that parishes can use to support pregnant women.
“While we celebrate the ban on abortion, it means that we need to step up our dedication to providing help to those in crisis pregnancies,” said Rosanne Kouris of the diocesan Office of Family Life. “The Diocese of Gary's Walking with Moms in Need program has been adopted by numerous parishes and others are asking to join. This program is parish-based and can give mothers in need the resources, from food to medical care, to housing, to finding a job, that will see them through.
“Our society suffers from a lack of understanding that children are a gift from God, and instead they are seen as a product,” Kouris added. “This mindset allows children to be destroyed by abortion and subjected to child trafficking. We must commit ourselves to changing this perspective through active support, prayer and penance. The time is now to be a defender of God's children.”
St. Joseph in Hammond began its WWMIN ministry more than a year ago by creating a core team as part of its parish’s Synod 2022 Action Plan. Formally launched in March 2022, a diaper drive was held and an inventory of resources was compiled, followed by a Community Baby Shower for 15 mothers and guests.
A visit to the nearby Franciscan Prenatal Assistance center led to a partnership that will host a larger baby shower next spring and a new Mommy Circle pilot program (line dancing and yoga have already been held) at the parish.
“We have provided multicultural, bilingual and intergenerational services and in March, we were awarded a $5,000 missionary discipleship grant from the diocese to purchase computers, software and other supplies that mothers can use here at the parish to access resources,” said parish WWMIN leader Lisa Spudic. “We meet the emergency needs of moms until we get them linked to service agencies.”
The parish is currently planning a parish-wide event to share its work and welcome others to the ministry.
At St. Edward in Lowell, the WWMIN ministry has installed yard signs, developed a resource binder and distributed the diocese’s My Guide booklet. “We have a group of parishioners who work together, and I’m the first contact,” said Sheila Lachnik. “Depending on the needs, I’ll make calls to get the mom the resources she needs.”
Lachnik said the parish has recently helped a family who contacted St. Edward. “The mom, her husband and four sons were living in a hotel in Hammond, and we helped relocate them to Lake Station. Her husband was unemployed, and he now has a job. We referred her to the Women’s Care Center for diapers and other supplies. We are still helping her,” Lachnik explained.
“I am post-abortive myself, and not having resources and support – they weren’t known to me – (led me to take) the opportunity to help my community and give mothers a hand up. Being in love with Jesus means that we are his hands and his feet.”
Pat Tuttle heads the Respect Life Committee at St. Paul in Valparaiso, where the WWMIN initiative was launched on Mother’s Day. “We gave out 1,300 My Guides at the Masses to let everyone know that we’ll be there to help women in need,” she said. “We can refer them to agencies like the Women’s Care Centers of NWI and Birthright in Valparaiso, which offers free pregnancy testing and maternity and baby clothes. We have diapers and wipes – whatever they need help with – we will provide, like housing at Mommie’s Haven in Lowell.”
Tuttle said helping save lives “is my purpose. I’m out there at Planned Parenthood helping moms find out all that is available to them. We really need to get the word out about the resources available; women tell me ‘I didn’t know’ when I tell them. Once a woman sees the ultrasound of her baby, 80% change their minds about abortion.”
St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville has a Respect for Life Group headed by Jo Brown, who welcomes calls to her number, 865-0217, and has raised awareness with signs and church bulletin announcements. “Most people in need still call our Good Samaritan group, which keeps a supply of diapers and wipes on hand, but if more is needed, we step in,” Brown said.
“Last week we got a call from a mom with a 3-month-old in desperate need. She was piecing together onesies to clothe her child, so we got donations to buy her clothing and supplies and sent her to the Women’s Care Center in Hammond.”
Brown added: “We are all called by God to help the littlest ones and their moms. I am privileged and happy to do it.”
A new WWMIN group of eight at St. Patrick in Chesterton, headed by Clark Gloyeske, has met and is in the process of contacting other parishes for advice and best practices to follow. “I see us as a resource helper depending on what the mom needs,” he said.
Anticipating a “soft roll out of the initiative in September,” Gloyeske said a dedicated phone line – 424-LIFE – has been established and an intake form is being developed. “We have ordered yard signs and cards, placed bulletin announcements and added a page to the parish website,” he added.
“Our parishes – individually or in clusters – need to embrace the Walking with Moms in Need initiative. Outdoor signs are provided through the diocesan office in both English and Spanish that let moms in need know that there is confidential assistance and loving, caring accompaniment available in the parish,” said Father Holy.
“Individually, we all need to do everything that we can to support our moms in need through either volunteerism or through financial and material support of the pregnancy resource and women’s care centers located throughout the diocese. The dedicated women and men who have embraced this special ministry of care are now going to be busier than ever,” he added.
Senate Bill 1, passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb on Aug. 5, 2022, was scheduled to take effect Aug. 1 after a June 30 Indiana Supreme Court ruling lifting a preliminary injunction imposed as part of an appeal to the constitutionality of the law.
Known as SB1, the law “prohibits abortions except to protect the life or physical health of the mother, in cases where a pregnancy is forced on a woman through the horrific acts of rape and incest (within 10 weeks of post-fertilization), or when an unborn child suffers from a lethal fetal anomaly (so long as the abortion occurs prior to viability or 20 post-fertilization weeks of pregnancy, whichever is earlier. If a pregnancy needs to be terminated due to a lethal fetal anomaly past viability, the proper medical procedure is to induce labor, not abort).
All abortions must be performed at a hospital or ambulatory surgical center owned by a hospital, effectively forbidding abortions at clinics like Planned Parenthood. While a woman is not subject to any criminal penalties in the new law, a doctor who is determined to have performed an illegal abortion must have their medical license revoked, as was previously the criminal penalty.
The legislature can, as early as next year, further restrict abortion access by eliminating the exception for rape and incest, since the ISC also ruled they are not necessarily required by the state constitution.
“While I am grateful that the provisions of Senate Bill 1 which recognize and protect the dignity, sanctity and value of the lives of our most vulnerable and defenseless Indiana citizens will go into effect, and am encouraged that greater progress is being made in transforming the culture of death into a culture of life,” noted Father Holy, “the work of accompanying women and families experiencing a crisis pregnancy not only continues but intensifies so that abortion is never the only or best option for mother and child.
“Our daughters, sisters, mothers and friends deserve better than abortion,” stressed Father Holy, “Much better.”