Birthright Is Celebrating 40 Years in Dubuque

 

 

40 years ago, a new organization arrived in DBQ to offer women in crisis pregnancies help to get through them. That organization was Birthright. Birthright had been started in 1968 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by Louise Summerhill. they started in aaone-room office with only $300 in the bank. The idea quickly took off & 4 years later it reached DBQ. Little did they know at the time that what they offered would be as urgently needed as it would be. It was only a few months later, in January 1973, that the Roe v Wade & Doe v Bolton rulings came down from the Supreme Court legalizing abortion for any reason & at any time in the pregancy throughout the USA.

With women being told that abortion was now an option, their range of services designed to "help support a woman's desire not to have an abortion," were needed more than ever.

Each local Birthright is staffed by volunteers & relies on the financial & other assistance they may need. This includes donations of clothing, baby blankets, diapers & other things. All of their services are free. They include  

Completely confidential help

Friendship and emotional support

Free pregnancy testing

Medical referrals

Legal referrals

Educational assistance and referrals

Maternity and baby clothes

Housing referrals

Referrals to social agencies

Referrals for professional counseling

Information on:

• Prenatal development
• Job search/career development
• Adoption
• Pregnancy & childbirth
• Child care options
• Child safety issues

 

At birth each mother is given a complete layette.

As you can see Birthright helps provide a whole range of services that do more than just talk a woman out of abortion. They are the face of the Pro-life movement that the media tries to claim doesn't exist so as to paint us as just wanting to end abortion & uncaring about women or what happens to the child. This has never been true of the Pro-life movement. In the early days much of the focus was on ending abortion, but that being the only thing was never true. & Birthright is proof that we cared even before abortion was legal.

Birthright in DBQ has 28 volunteers that represent more than 400 years of service to the organization. Their current location at 1125 Main St. is their fourth location.

To celebrate their 40 years of service to women in the DBQ area, Birthright will be holding a special celebration this Saturday here in DBQ. It will be held at the Grand River Center, 500 Bell ST in DBQ. The featured speaker will be Louise Summerhill, the daughter of the late founder of Birthright. Following in the footsteps of her mother, she helps run the 44-year-old international organization.

The cost is $10. There are limited seats available. Reservations can be made by by calling 563-870-4665.