“Our mission is to provide the caring support that a woman in a crisis pregnancy needs so that she may choose life for her unborn baby.”
Los Angeles Pregnancy Services (LAPS) is a pregnancy resource center that opened its doors in the Pico-Union district of Los Angeles in May of 2000. LAPS is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that is affiliated with the Right to Life League of Southern California. We serve a poverty-stricken community in a neighborhood that has no less than nine abortion facilities within a one mile radius of our center. It is not uncommon to find heavy promotion for abortion services via radio, billboards, television, free TV guides and flyers handed out at street corners – all in Spanish.
Our mission is to provide the caring support that a woman in a crisis pregnancy needs so that she may choose life for her unborn baby. We are primarily a counseling and resource center for pregnant women who lack support from their families and communities. Our trained peer counselors, many of them bilingual, are ready to walk with these women through this difficult period in their lives. They are ready to assist them spiritually, emotionally and materially with referrals to many services in our community (housing, medical services, educational and employment resources, etc.), as well as providing material assistance once their babies are born: diapers, baby clothes and furniture, baby food, and more. Apart from helping people at the center we also outreach to countless other people at the local churches, schools and health fairs, educating them on the life issues and the life-affirming services and volunteering opportunities we provide. We also have many opportunities to speak with the religious and secular media to communicate the truth about abortion and to make the public aware of the pro-life assistance that is available for women in crisis pregnancies.
LAPS volunteers strive to keep a hopeful and positive attitude while facing great opposition and obstacles in our area. Faith in God carries us through difficult times and financial hardship because this is His endeavor and all of our efforts are for His glory. We are encouraged every day by the strength and courage that we see in those we serve. There have been dozens of babies saved in the last few months (almost 900 since the year 2000), many of them because someone was there to listen and to educate these mothers about the facts of life: showing them what abortion really does to the baby and mother, how miraculous every baby is even in the early stages of life, and the resources available to assist them in their time of need. Many women are brought over to our center by the prayer warriors outside of the nine abortion facilities in our neighborhood. Many people call us inquiring about abortion and we invite them to learn the truth about abortion and many choose life instead for their babies. Praise God!
We have two primary needs. We are in urgent need of funds to keep the center open and well-equipped. Our local churches and parishioners are also poor and rely on us for much needed services. We are also looking for volunteers who are committed wholeheartedly to the pro-life cause and who truly feel called by God to provide direct support to women in crisis pregnancies. We are looking for help in all areas: counseling, public speaking, administration, fund-raising/grant-writing, public relations, etc,
This year we hope to have an ultrasound machine. This is a first step into becoming an actual clinic that can provide medical services for women and their children. Having pro-life doctors and nurses working at LAPS would truly be a prayer answered. So many women could be dissuaded from having an abortion by allowing them to view their little one in the womb! We would also like to have the funds to be able to provide an effective outreach in our neighborhood via billboards, newspapers, radio spots and TV ads.