LA archdiocese launches pro-life networking app

Los Angeles, Calif., Jan 23, 2014 / 17:53 pm

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has set up a smart phone application that connects pro-life pregnancy centers and persons so they can help provide resources and prayers for pregnant women at risk of choosing abortion.

Archbishop José Gomez said Jan. 22 that the app, named "ProLife," is "creating a network of prayer and practical support to help women facing crisis pregnancies."

"We want to say today that no woman should ever face a pregnancy feeling alone, or desperate, or feeling like she has no other options. These are our sisters. We cannot be indifferent to their fears. We need to be near to them. In our love, we need to help them in every way that we can."

Archbishop Gomez joined health leaders, mothers, and babies at the app's launch at Guadalupe Medical Center in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.

ProLife was developed by the Pasadena-based nonprofit Options United and the Los Angeles archdiocese's life, justice, and peace office. It is available for both Apple and Android smart phones and tablets by searching for "Options United" in the App Store or Google Play.

The app lists 78 pregnancy centers in Los Angeles and Southern California, including the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial. The app lists services including pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and post-abortion healing.

App users can also broadcast requests for prayers for pregnant women and girls, as well as find contact information for all local pregnancy centers, pro-life action organizations, churches, and schools that are registered on the app.

Those who use ProLife may set reminders to volunteer, pray, or sacrifice for pro-life causes and log their actions. Users may receive alerts from registered pregnancy centers when a woman is in need of prayer, and can use the app to make pledges to pro-life organizations and to invite others to use it.

Although southern California is best represented on the app, pro-life individuals, pregnancy centers and pro-life resources from across the U.S. will also be able to register.

Archbishop Gomez noted that about 220 women have abortions in southern California each day. He said that ProLife can provide "practical help to women in need" and engage others in building "a culture of life."

He explained that such action is rooted in Christians' belief in Jesus, who "loved us so much that he came into this world the same way that each one of us did – spending nine months in a mother's womb and being born from his mother's love."

"Jesus taught us that every human life is sacred and precious to God, from conception to natural death," the archbishop continued.

"We pledge to use every means to help our sisters in need. And to build an America where every child is welcomed and loved and where every life is treasured as sacred."