Post-Dobbs, Catholic maternity homes provide critical support for moms in need

The twin specters of abortion and desperation frequently hover over unplanned pregnancies.

Referencing these realities, Father Donald Rooney, pastor of St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Springfield, Virginia, posed the question: "What are we going to do that's going to help somebody?"

Father Rooney, a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, asked that question of his parishioners at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg nearly two decades ago.

"If we're going to shout no," he said, "we have to shout yes."

Shortly afterward -- in 2006 -- volunteers founded Mary's Shelter in a two-room apartment that has since expanded to a community of six maternity homes. More than 400 women -- and their born and unborn children -- have lived at Mary's Shelter facilities.

Heartbeat International -- a Christian interdenominational, pro-life organization that supports the world's largest network of crisis pregnancy centers -- estimates there are over 400 maternity homes in the U.S., an 8% increase since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and other related abortion precedent in 2022.

While he humbly denies it, Father Rooney's committed determination also convinced two more communities to launch maternity homes.

"When the Dobbs decision came through, and they repealed Roe v. Wade -- and everybody was doing their victory laps -- I said, 'Wait a minute. We didn't 'win' anything,'" Father Rooney told OSV News, referring to the Supreme Court's June 24, 2022, ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. "If anything, now we have more responsibility than ever to help these women who are going to be needing to find solutions."

One of those solutions is Mary's Comfort, a new maternity home in Springfield for single mothers. Modeled on Mary's Shelter in Fredericksburg, mothers and babies can stay for up to two years.

Mary's Comfort was blessed Aug. 9 by Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who also chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

"It is my hope and prayer that Mary's Comfort flourishes in Springfield, becoming a bright beacon of hope for mothers in need of shelter, support and new beginnings," Bishop Burbidge said. "As an independent Christian organization," he added, "Mary's Comfort shows how believers anywhere may work together to serve their brothers and sisters."

Volunteers hope to expand Mary's Comfort to four or five future homes.

"It's not just diapers and changing tables," said Father Rooney, noting the holistic approach Mary's Comfort takes to residents. "It's a program to really get the woman on her feet -- with a budget, and a job, and a house, and complete their education. And whatever counseling might be necessary, we want to provide that."

Father Rooney is relentlessly realistic about the limited choices faced by single and homeless mothers.

"Without an exception, every person I've ever spoken with about it, they had an abortion because they thought they had no choice. There was no support," Father Rooney said. "They were being threatened by family or by boyfriends. They were going to lose their jobs. There's too many things to try to navigate -- and they have no safe place to land."

The personal stigma originally associated with "unwed mother" homes -- to which as many as an estimated 1.5 million American mothers were sent from approximately 1940-1970 -- has now been shed for the most part. In its place, a full range of services has been added -- including life and parenting skill classes; health care access and counseling; and supplies.

The cost of those supplies -- diapers, formula and food; baby gear and clothes -- is no small matter. USAFacts.org, a nonpartisan civic initiative collating government data, reports that based on available 2015 federal data, a low-income married couple with two children on average spent $11,990-12,830 per child annually; similar middle-income families could spend an average $15,877-17,869 per child.

For newborns, the costs can be even higher. Insurance giant New York Life tallies the average cost of giving birth as $18,865; with employer-sponsored health insurance, the average drops to $2,854. But U.S. Labor Department data also observes very young children require more labor-intensive care, with a 2023 report noting, "Childcare prices are untenable for families across all care types, age groups, and county population sizes."

Needless to say, for low-income or homeless mothers-to-be in a crisis pregnancy -- sometimes with no job, and possibly with addiction issues -- such figures aren't just daunting. They're an impossibility.

"By providing real resources for mothers and for their babies -- that's how we abolish the abortion mindset," Jessica Freyne, executive director of Providence Pregnancy Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, told OSV News. "Real help -- not just a place that gives you a pack of diapers and a pack of wipes and sends you on your way, and tells you to come a month later."

While qualifying that every bit of assistance surely helps, Freyne also insists upon personal connections.

"You can't affect people's lives just by handing them diapers," she said. "It's a good thing -- people have material needs -- but really, where change takes place is in relationships. That's where you really get to show love."

When the forthcoming Dobbs decision was leaked in May 2022, "we were seeing a lot of hatred," remembered Freyne, as protests and vandalism were directed at pro-life advocates and organizations.

Thinking to make a positive impact, Freyne began to plan a fundraiser, initially with the idea of assisting a pregnancy center in Philadelphia. Her pastor, Father Eric Bergman at St. Thomas More Parish, part of a diocese called the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, responded positively.

He had just one caveat.

"Father said, 'That's a great idea -- however, we need one here,'" Freyne recalled. "There's an urgency here in Scranton. There's a lot of poverty, and there have been women who knocked on the door of the rectory, seeking refuge -- and he had nowhere to send them."

A successful "Life is Beautiful" event -- which took place, as timing would have it, the day after Roe v. Wade fell with the Dobbs decision -- provided the seed money to start helping women with baby supplies.

A maternity home followed. Expectant mothers -- who are allowed to bring their other children up to age 5, an option many such residences don't offer -- can stay up to a year after birth, and are assisted with a personal action plan tailored to their circumstances.

In October, Catholic actor Jim Caviezel will headline an evening benefiting Providence Pregnancy Center, which also operates a thrift shop to support its services.

For Freyne, proactivity is the key ingredient to pro-life advocacy.

"It's almost like we have this mentality that we wait for something to happen to respond; we're reactionary," she suggested. "I think if you show women love and support throughout their pregnancies, you're preventing future abortions -- instead of waiting until they come to your door in a complete crisis."

Laura Magruder, CEO of Maggie's Place in Phoenix, shares a similar philosophy.

"If we're going to be a society that wants to value the birth of a child," she said, "we've got to be there to help people parent -- that's all there is to it."

"Founded in the spirit of Catholic social teaching" -- as its website notes -- Maggie's Place locations throughout Arizona's Maricopa County offer housing, support services, enrichment, education, and health and wellness to mothers and babies who can stay up to a year. There's also a thrift shop.

More than 1,201 moms and 750 babies have called Maggie's Place residences -- which can accommodate 34 moms and infants per night -- home, according to a 2023 community impact report.

But even so, Magruder said it's not enough.

"I would say we have 50 calls a week of women that are homeless, pregnant, and are self-reported clean and sober, and not fleeing domestic violence, that fit our profile," she shared. "And we can't house them."

Magruder estimates at least 70% of Maggie's Place moms have been in a domestic violence situation; over 50% have struggled with addiction. Theirs is a precarious existence that Magruder compares to a tower of dominoes: "You pull out one piece and it all falls apart."

Which makes loving and comprehensive accompaniment critical.

"It really does take a lot to raise a child -- it takes a lot of support," Magruder said. "People need to know there's a network around them of people that care -- so they can stay sober, and they can stay positive, and they can bounce back when they've been knocked down."

Freyne echoes that assertion with what could be the motto of those who walk with women in a crisis pregnancy.

"If you want to save babies, you have to love their mothers," Freyne said. "That's what maternity homes do; that's what pregnancy centers do."