“I’d like you to think about taking on a new task,” the Pregnancy Care Center (PCC) director said to me over the phone. “We’ve been gifted with ultrasound equipment, and I’m looking for RNs willing to be trained in limited ultrasound to do sonograms for pregnant women. What are your thoughts?” She explained there would be a partial-day training in a couple months. I promised to pray about this potential role.
Unlike previous volunteering at the PCC, this role would require my RN training and skills, so it seemed like potentially wise stewardship of my limited spare time. But I still was unsure.
Then, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and I was chatting with a Christian teenager who was still figuring out his own convictions on abortion. “I’m not so sure I think abortion is wrong,” he explained. “I’m hearing lots of discussion from my classmates. What about the rights of women?”
“Pregnancies can be complicated,” I said. “But what about the rights of the unborn child? Who’s speaking up for them?” And the teen’s eyes opened wide. I knew I now had him considering a different perspective.
And that’s when it hit me. I sensed the Lord telling me to be “a voice for the voiceless” children in their mothers’ wombs. To show the baby’s heartbeat flashing on the screen, to give a window to the baby developing inside the mother. To be the baby’s voice for the mom to hear before there was even a bump on her belly. To “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8a, NIV).
So I committed three hours per month for doing ultrasounds at the care center. And then, the director and I learned the RNs needed to attend a week-long training where we also learned we needed to be doing ultrasounds roughly three hours each week to maintain our skills. The time commitment kept expanding, but repeatedly, I sensed God telling me to stay faithful to being a voice for the voiceless.
So far, almost all of the few mothers in our sparsely populated rural county who’ve come for an ultrasound are resource-poor, eager to have their child, but do not yet have an OB provider. These women are so grateful for a first glimpse of life in their womb. What an amazing privilege of sharing these intimate moments with moms!
However, my state of Maine recently became a “sanctuary state” for those seeking abortion. Undoubtedly, God has positioned me to also be a voice of the unborn to a mother who may be questioning whether to keep her child. I humbly thank God for the ultrasound skills to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Margaret De Jong Morgenthaler, MS, MDiv, RN, is now employed as nurse manager at her local pregnancy care center. She is also a contributing editor with the Journal of Christian Nursing.
