Since the March for Life on January 19, Planned Parenthood has performed an estimated 12,388 abortions on women throughout the United States.
In the eyes of Carrie Murray Nellis and Vicki Colls, who were both attending the March for Life for the first time, the pro-life movement hasn’t done enough to provide young expectant mothers with options other than terminating a pregnancy.
“We have failed women,” Nellis said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “We have failed expectant mothers. We have failed birth mothers.”
She elaborated further. “Everything is about the baby. And don’t get me wrong, the baby is important. It’s important to save the baby’s life, but once we do that, and the woman makes a choice for life, all of a sudden, we’re gone. She’s gone. Nobody cares about her, and she’s left there taking care of a child or trying to make important life decisions for her and her child. And we have got to fill that gap,”
Nellis, who is the executive director of Abiding Love Adoptions, an adoption agency that operates in Georgia and Alabama, hopes to bring about that change through an unorthodox program, known as open adoption, which allows birth parents, particularly mothers, to remain involved in their child’s life, even if they’re not able to care for them.
Nellis and Colls, who both worked in the realm of adoption in years past, founded Abiding Love Adoptions in 2016. So far, they’ve worked with 29 women, 18 of whom have given their babies a choice to live a different life through an open adoption plan.
“[The mother] is in control of the entire process,” Colls told the Examiner. “She chooses the family. She chooses what happens at the hospital. She chooses what kind of openness she wants.”
Colls, who serves as a birth mother advocate, adopted her first child after she turned 30. She adopted two more after going on and off of fertility treatment for 11 years. Two of her adoptive children have special needs, and Colls’ husband brought in two children from a previous marriage. In addition to that, her three adoptive children all have open access to their birth families.
“Because of that, we are one big family,” Colls added.
She went on to say that just because a birth mother sets up an adoption plan for their child, they should still be a part of their lives.
“We believe that a birth mother has a right to know her child and love her child for the rest of her life.”
For both Nellis and Colls, however, they were disappointed about the level of presence of other adoption agencies at the March for Life.
“We put something out here for Abiding Love Adoptions … and so far it seems we are the only adoption agency out here,” Nellis said. “That’s horrifying.”
When asked if Abiding Love Adoptions would be at every March for Life rally going forward, Colls responded, “Yes, it is our intention to be there every year!”
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
