Washington D.C., Dec 20, 2014 / 07:50 am
A new website is being launched to help pregnant college students find the help they need to stay in school and have their child.
"Becoming unexpectedly pregnant while in college can be a scary situation for so many women," said Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins in a statement announcing the website, pregnantoncampus.org.
She noted that many Planned Parenthood facilities are proximate to college campuses, and that "many of these students have no idea about the resources available to them on their college campuses to help them stay in school and parent their children, which is why this website is so unique and needed."
The website was launched in early December as the latest step in the group's "Pregnant on Campus" initiative, begun in 2011. It will provide information on resources available for young pregnant mothers such as housing aid, clothing, food, child care, scholarships, adoption agencies, and counseling.
Students for Life groups across the country have compiled the information they have gathered to help pregnant students. In addition, the site will allow students to post more information directly to the site through crowdsourcing. Resources that are "never in one place" will now be readily available for those who need them.
"We talk about 'abortion isn't your only option' and 'you have lots of options'," Hawkins said, "but oftentimes she doesn't really see that." The prevailing assumption on campuses, she maintained, "is you get pregnant and you drop out or you have an abortion."
Students for Life is trying to change this. The group's top priority is to ensure pregnant women stay in school and have their child, Hawkins insisted, "for her future and her child's future."
Hawkins said the group plans to harness "intensive Google advertising" to further spread the word about the website.