BreakPoint
Not long ago, I told you about Jamie who at age nineteen was the frightened, unmarried mother of a newborn. With no money and no insurance, she panicked after the birth. One December night she bundled up the baby and abandoned him in the dark empty hallway of an apartment complex. Fortunately, police found the baby still alive.
Jamie's baby is just one of America's newborns routinely found abandoned in trash bins, junk cars, and dark alleyways. And sadly, most abandoned babies die before they are rescued.
We received many letters and e-mails after that "BreakPoint" commentary aired. Listeners agreed with me: "The problem of abandoned babies goes deeper than lack of finances or fear of family, or criminal prosecution. It's a reflection of our callous disregard of the sanctity of human life."
One e-mail came from Debbe Magnusen. "I was just forwarded a copy of this commentary," Debbe wrote. "And I found for the first time that someone felt as I [did]." Debbe, a born-again Christian, is doing something about the problem of abandoned babies.
"By God's grace," she writes, "I became the founder of the first nationwide crisis line for women [who are] contemplating abandoning their newborns. We now have rescued 405 babies from such a fate!" Debbe named the organization "Project Cuddle."
Many states now have Safe Haven laws, which are a good start. These laws allow mothers to anonymously leave newborns at hospitals, firehouses, and other designated places without fear of prosecution. But these laws don't fully solve the problem.
"What people don't seem to realize," Debbe continues, "is that those women who have hidden their pregnancies from all of their loved ones and family members are not going to want to walk into a hospital with cameras and security guards."
So Project Cuddle gives them protection by connecting expectant mothers with the volunteers who make up their national network. As a result of these relationships, Project Cuddle has not only saved the lives of newborns, but has also rescued their birth mothers from breaking the law.
"Girls that thought they had no hope," explains Debbe, "have gone on to tell their parents [of their pregnancy] with a Project Cuddle volunteer by their side." Debbe says that 60 percent keep their babies, and Project Cuddle gives them the support they need to make that happen. Forty percent choose adoptive families.
"They may hate their baby," Debbe writes, "but they don't abandon it! That is so important, because no baby deserves to die before he or she has had a chance to live."
If this is a ministry that interests you, or if you're pregnant and need help, call us here at BreakPoint (1-800-995-8777) or visit our homepage, and we'll put you in contact with "Project Cuddle."
A baby -- born or unborn -- is a being created in the image of God and is precious to Him. A child -- regardless of whether that child is an embryo, fetus, or newborn -- is not a disposable commodity. And a child's life should never be subject to our finances, our fears, or our convenience.
Debbe Magnusen is a courageous woman acting on a worldview that sees human life as sacred and in need of protection in very practical ways.
Project Cuddle
Not long ago, I told you about Jamie who at age nineteen was the frightened, unmarried mother of a newborn. With no money and no insurance, she panicked after the birth. One December night she bundled up the baby and abandoned him in the dark empty hallway of an apartment complex. Fortunately, police found the baby still alive.
Jamie's baby is just one of America's newborns routinely found abandoned in trash bins, junk cars, and dark alleyways. And sadly, most abandoned babies die before they are rescued.
We received many letters and e-mails after that "BreakPoint" commentary aired. Listeners agreed with me: "The problem of abandoned babies goes deeper than lack of finances or fear of family, or criminal prosecution. It's a reflection of our callous disregard of the sanctity of human life."
One e-mail came from Debbe Magnusen. "I was just forwarded a copy of this commentary," Debbe wrote. "And I found for the first time that someone felt as I [did]." Debbe, a born-again Christian, is doing something about the problem of abandoned babies.
"By God's grace," she writes, "I became the founder of the first nationwide crisis line for women [who are] contemplating abandoning their newborns. We now have rescued 405 babies from such a fate!" Debbe named the organization "Project Cuddle."
Many states now have Safe Haven laws, which are a good start. These laws allow mothers to anonymously leave newborns at hospitals, firehouses, and other designated places without fear of prosecution. But these laws don't fully solve the problem.
"What people don't seem to realize," Debbe continues, "is that those women who have hidden their pregnancies from all of their loved ones and family members are not going to want to walk into a hospital with cameras and security guards."
So Project Cuddle gives them protection by connecting expectant mothers with the volunteers who make up their national network. As a result of these relationships, Project Cuddle has not only saved the lives of newborns, but has also rescued their birth mothers from breaking the law.
"Girls that thought they had no hope," explains Debbe, "have gone on to tell their parents [of their pregnancy] with a Project Cuddle volunteer by their side." Debbe says that 60 percent keep their babies, and Project Cuddle gives them the support they need to make that happen. Forty percent choose adoptive families.
"They may hate their baby," Debbe writes, "but they don't abandon it! That is so important, because no baby deserves to die before he or she has had a chance to live."
If this is a ministry that interests you, or if you're pregnant and need help, call us here at BreakPoint (1-800-995-8777) or visit our homepage, and we'll put you in contact with "Project Cuddle."
A baby -- born or unborn -- is a being created in the image of God and is precious to Him. A child -- regardless of whether that child is an embryo, fetus, or newborn -- is not a disposable commodity. And a child's life should never be subject to our finances, our fears, or our convenience.
Debbe Magnusen is a courageous woman acting on a worldview that sees human life as sacred and in need of protection in very practical ways.
For more information:
Learn more about Project Cuddle at its website or call 714-432-9681. The toll-free 24-hour crisis line is: 1-888-6-CUDDLE (1-888-628-3353).
BreakPoint commentary no. 011231, "America's Abandoned Babies: Whatever Happened to the Preciousness of New Life?"
Melissa Hammel, "Safe Haven Laws," The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, 6 May 2002.
Gina Dalfonzo, "No Choice: Abortion and Our Priorities," BreakPoint Online, 25 July 2002.
Join the "Shake the Nation" campaign in rattling Capitol Hill by urging U.S. Senators to confirm pro-life judges.
Lynn Vincent, "Sanctioning cruelty or saving children?", World, 24 January 2000.
09/8/06
