While two 40 Days for Life volunteers were praying recently outside the Cherry Hill Women’s Center – an abortion provider – they witnessed a distraught woman leaving the facility and called her over with an offer of help.

“Diana was 19 weeks pregnant and wasn’t able to have an abortion in her home state of Florida,” Howson recalled. The woman was scared by the instructions given by CHWC, and “she was having second thoughts. After speaking with Lorraine and John [the prayer volunteers] she decided not to go through with it – praise God!”
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The volunteers connected Diana with Helpers of God’s Precious Infants New Jersey – Helpers NJ, for short – which booked her a flight back to Miami that same day.

Thanks to volunteers and donors from nearby parishes in both the Trenton and Camden Dioceses, Helpers NJ has been “entering into the lives of pregnant women and their families in order to ease their life burdens with support services to give them hope,” its website explains.

Inspired by the 40 Days for Life Campaign (now a year-round Respect Life prayer effort), founding members Teri Labrosse and Joe Burns began in the early 1990s to pray for and provide information on abortion alternatives to women accessing the CHWC. Howson joined forces with Labrosse in 2014, along with now-president Mary Ann Barlow, incorporating Helpers NJ in 2015. Both Howson and Barlow are members of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish.

“The Moorestown Knights of Columbus have made us a beneficiary of their golf outing,” said Howson of the funding for Helpers NJ. “St. Joan of Arc Parish, Marlton, did a wonderful fundraiser for us on Mother’s Day … and Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Hainesport, has put together Thanksgiving baskets for some of our mothers for several years.” Additionally, “the Columbus Baptist Church sends a check every month.”

Pregnant women find Helpers NJ not only through prayer volunteers outside CHWC, but also through referrals from a nearby hospital. In the aftermath of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, women in more abortion-restrictive states are seeking out the more lenient abortion resources of states like New Jersey.

The Bridgid Alliance, which helps women seeking abortion with travel expenses and child care, paid for Diana and a companion to fly to Philadelphia and stay in a nearby hotel, as well as an Uber gift card for local transportation – but not a return ticket.

“Thanks be to God for the donors to Helpers NJ!” Howson said. “Diana promised she will keep in touch; she texted last night to say they’d landed safely.”

Rachel Hendricks, diocesan coordinator of Respect Life Ministries, emphasized the necessity of direct support.

“The needs of pregnant women and young families are not being met, leaving them feeling like abortion is their only choice,” Hendricks pointed out. “With the anticipated influx of women coming from other states for abortion, we need to step up our support of pregnancy centers and outreach organizations like Helpers NJ so that women can get the support they need to choose life.”

“We must aim to have presence wherever abortions are taking place,” Howson agreed. “Mothers need support when doubts arise. And our mere presence can cause those doubts.”