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Jesus and Unexpected Pregnancy: An Open Letter to Churches Across Quebec
Let’s keep the conversation open and build a church community where everyone facing a pregnancy-related challenge—or seeking support after abortion—knows they have a village to turn to.
For over 15 years, Options Pregnancy Centre Lennoxville has been developing language, resources, and support for women and families navigating pregnancy-related challenges in Quebec. As a non-political Christian organization, our team meets with women and men every week and is committed to working alongside the body of Christ to build a culture where every pregnancy is met with support and hope.
Since the release of journalist Clément Hamelin’s documentary Faites du bruit pour Jésus, conversations have opened across Quebec about abortion and the way Christians talk about it. We know this isn’t an easy topic, and we recognize the vulnerability it can take to share personal experiences.
At Options, our role isn’t to debate. We seek to expand options for individuals, not limit them. Our focus is on support: how we can walk alongside people, respond with dignity, and help create a culture where no one has to face these experiences alone.
Rather than closing the conversation, we hope this moment will help keep it open—with a shared desire to build a culture of support and hope, where people can find belonging, practical help, and opportunities for healing.
So, as churches across Quebec, how can we work together to make sure that support is there when it’s needed?
A woman should not have to face an unexpected pregnancy alone
An unexpected pregnancy can bring significant challenges. A woman may want to continue her pregnancy but face financial insecurity, housing difficulties, family conflict, an unstable relationship, or the prospect of parenting without reliable support.
Sometimes, the challenge isn’t that she doesn’t want her baby. It’s that she cannot see how she could make it work.
What if she already knew that her church was a place where she could be honest about her circumstances? A place where people would listen without judgment, help her access resources, and walk alongside her through pregnancy and parenting?
Our words and actions matter. If we want women to see a way forward, we need to help build that way forward with them.
Support can look like meals, transportation, baby supplies, consistent friendship, or someone checking in long after the initial announcement. No single church can meet every need, but together, with families and community organizations, we can build a stronger village around women, men and their children.
There is room for healing after abortion, too
Women and men who have experienced abortion are already part of our churches and communities. Some may have questions, difficult emotions, or experiences they have never felt safe enough to share. Others may simply need someone willing to listen.
We don’t need to have the same experiences or perspectives to recognize that people need support, dignity, and connection.
How can someone seek support if they feel ashamed to share?
Our churches can be places where people are welcomed without being defined by their past, listened to without assumptions, and supported without fear of rejection. We can offer friendship, prayer when desired, and practical help.
We don’t need to know someone’s whole story to walk alongside them. We can meet them where they are and help them find the support they need.
A culture of support makes room for people before, during, and after a pregnancy decision. It recognizes that healing can be part of someone’s journey and that no one should have to navigate that journey alone.
Building a culture of support before it’s needed
A supportive church culture begins long before someone announces an unexpected pregnancy or asks for support after abortion. It grows through the relationships we build, the conversations we have, and the practical ways we live out our beliefs.
It begins when we teach about the value of every human life, the blessings of children, healthy relationships, service and demonstrate those values through our actions. It grows when people understand that asking for help is welcomed, that difficult circumstances do not have to be hidden, and that our community is willing to share the load.
Churches can begin by asking:
Do people in our congregation know where they can turn when facing a pregnancy-related challenge?
Are we prepared to offer practical help and ongoing support?
How can we work alongside other churches and community organizations to meet needs more effectively?
We don’t need to have every answer before we begin. We need a willingness to listen, learn, prepare, and work together.
An invitation to build a village
At Options Pregnancy Centre Lennoxville, we believe support changes what feels possible.
We offer free, confidential, bilingual support to women and men navigating pregnancy-related challenges, parenting, pregnancy loss, and experiences after abortion. Our support is practical, emotional, and relational, with spiritual support available when desired.
We are one part of a wider community of support. We are not here to replace churches, families, or other organizations. We want to work alongside them to build a village where people are not left to face difficult circumstances alone.
To churches across Quebec, our invitation is simple: let’s keep the conversation open and allow it to lead us toward meaningful action. Let’s make support part of how we live out our faith. Let’s create communities where a woman continuing an unexpected pregnancy knows she will not be left alone, and where someone seeking support after abortion knows there is a place for them, too.
We may not all have the same experiences or know exactly what to say. But we can choose to listen, to learn, and to walk alongside one another.
Every woman, man, and child has value. Every one of us needs support at different points in life. And building communities where people can find support, belonging, and healing is something we can do together.
What could change in our churches and communities if no one had to face a pregnancy-related challenge alone?
With hope,
Options Pregnancy Centre Lennoxville
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