Although a major snowstorm forced cancellation of the annual Rose Day observance at the Oklahoma State Capitol Feb. 9, Rose Day chair Heidi Wilburn reminds Oklahoma Baptists that they can share their concern for the unborn with their legislators anytime during the 2011 Session of the state’s 53rd Legislature, which actually began Feb. 7, and concludes May 27.

“Constituents may visit their state representative or senator’s office at any time during the session and make their pro-life position known to those who represent them at the Capitol,” said Wilburn, who represents the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma as its liaison to the convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Committee. “They may deliver a red rose symbolic of life and also urge them to support any pro-life measures being considered.”

Oklahomans can identify their senator and representative by going to the website, www.bgco.org/ERLC, and then clicking on the legislator locator.

Two bills, one each in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate, are on the priority list of the Rose Day Committee this year: HB 1888, sponsored by Rep. Pam Peterson (R-Tulsa), the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would restrict abortions after that point in pregnancy when an unborn baby is capable of feeling pain (20 weeks after fertilization); and SB 547, sponsored by Sen. Anthony Sykes (R-Moore), which would restrict coverage for elective abortions under health insurance plans, affirm the principle that killing is not health care and protect the conscience rights of pro-life premium payers so they’re not complicit in the killing.

Since Jan. 22, 1973, when abortion was legalized in the United States, more than 53 million unborn children have been killed in their mothers’ wombs.

The three Hope Pregnancy Centers of the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children—two in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa—assist young women and men going through an unplanned pregnancy. “The mission of Hope Pregnancy Ministries is to help young men and women have hope and choose life in the midst of an unplanned pregnancy,” says the OBHC website.

Hope Pregnancy Ministries serves as a source of support and encouragement to 27 evangelical centers throughout the state of Oklahoma through its Pregnancy Resource Network.

Hope Pregnancy Centers are staffed by volunteers trained to offer support for women of all ages. The desire of the staff is to encourage, to affirm dignity and self-worth and to suggest positive alternatives to individual situations and needs.
They provide free pregnancy tests and information on fetal development, abortion education, post-abortion syndrome, medical referrals, adoption referrals, community resources, parenting, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, Christian growth and maternity issues.

Through videos and brochures, they provide men and women with the education they need to make better choices for their lives. All of the brochures and videos are Christian-based.

Hope Pregnancy Center Medical Clinics also offer free limited ultrasounds to abortion-minded women and STD screenings. All services are free and confidential.

The three centers’ locations are: Hope Pregnancy Center OKC North, 10327 N. May Ave., 405/755-5433; Hope Pregnancy Center OKC South, 1624 SW 82nd, 405/688-8700; Hope Pregnancy Center, Tulsa, 13012 East 21st St., 918/622-3325.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board recently began a two-year emphasis on NAMB’s Pregnancy Resource Ministries and its 250 pregnancy resource centers.

The purpose of the emphasis is to change lives through sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by connecting God’s Church with women and families in unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

For more information, visit www.namb.net/pregnancy.