Archives for January 2026
Thinking of You!
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~ Matthew 6:21 NIV
Nothing says “Thinking of You” like a gift of abortion pills! Yes, you read that right. I saw this “article” before Christmas and almost wrote about it right then but decided against it. Why put a damper on one of the most beautiful, peaceful, and enjoyable times of the year!
Well, I still felt I needed to share it with you. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a beautifully wrapped box of abortion pills. Sound crazy? It is. This was a headline I came across on Social Media from a group called Shout Your Abortion. The headline was literally, “Give the gift of abortion pills”, all tied up in pretty boxes. And it made me pause. What an utterly terrible “gift” to give. The deadly ability to slaughter another human being, your own child no less. How much more barbaric can it get?
When I think of Christmas gift ideas for my beautiful daughters, it’s such a joyous time for me. Looking around and searching for those small gifts I know she’ll love and laugh about. She’ll know the person who gave it to her knows her, sees her, listens to her when she speaks her heart and about what she enjoys, what makes her laugh. She’ll know she is cherished. Those are the gifts I long to give my daughters.
So when I saw this article suggesting such a thing as a supply of the abortion pill be lifted up as a gift for a loved one it made me a tad nauseous.
My daughters are my treasures, who I protect and celebrate and lavish love upon. They are where my heart lies. I want only good for them as I’m sure all parents pray for their children. I want to give them gifts that uplift them and bring them happiness.
Anyone who would believe that a gift of abortion pills would cause anything other than destruction, isolation, and death is as lost and in need of mercy as those celebrating and “shouting their abortions”.
Next Step has the fierce heart, the team, the training, and the resources to be such a beacon of hope to those lost individuals. Thanks be to God – and you!
~ Heather M Vasquez
P.S. Save the Date! The 2026 Annual Gala will be held on Saturday September 19th!
Safe Harbor or Judge and Jury?
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” – Proverbs 24:11
What is an abortion abolitionist?
The term abortion abolitionist is not a new one. In fact, the movement dates back to the sixties and seventies. But to be honest, up until very recently, I had not heard the expression.
Simply put – Abortion Abolitionists believe that “the only truly pro-life position is to pass laws that recognize the crime of abortion is murder and that all who participate in abortion, including the mother, should face the criminal penalty for murder,” (https://www.texasallianceforlife.org/the-abolitionists-are-wrong)
To put that another way; abortion is the intentional murder of a living human being, in the womb, and all those who have a hand in that act, the provider, the nurses, the mother, bear guilt for the crime and therefore should be criminally punished.
So what does Next Step believe?
No one is immune to the consequences of abortion. I am a firm believer that moral neutrality is not an option.
You are either on the side of truth….or not.
Do we believe that abortion is the intentional killing of
an innocent human being?
Yes.
Do we believe the act of abortion is morally reprehensible
and should not be allowed?
Yes.
Do we believe that a mother who knowingly permits an abortion to be performed on her unborn child should be punished?
Here is where lines that are drawn begin to distort.
Every week our nurses see women who are pregnant. Some, I’ll say most, are happy to parent, planned or not. Some are not happy. They are scared, overwhelmed, confused, and more. They aren’t sure they want to parent but more than that they are not sure they can.
For a myriad of reasons. They are young, still in school, unmarried, perhaps not employed or if employed they have no health insurance, they have other children and can barely meet their needs, they are not in a safe relationship with the father of the baby
or not in a relationship at all!
They may decide that abortion is their only option. There is nothing else and no one else to “Rescue them from being led away to death”.
Pregnancy Help Clinics like your local one – Next Step Pregnancy Services – are in a unique position to see the impact on women contemplating abortion and possibly, sadly, choosing abortion.
Our nurses are in the thick of it. Deep in the reeds and heart of these stories. Sowing what might yet live.
So, in their indecision they find Next Step Pregnancy Services.
Where are our nurses become a safe harbor for them. To be heard. To be encouraged. To be calmed. To be told the truth.
So what does Next Step believe?
That we are called to love those who seek support and
let mercy guide our words.
“Compassion, not punishment, is the path that leads women in unplanned pregnancies to healing, restoration, and life.”(pregnancyhelpnews.com, Heartbeat International, L. Bourne, 11/06/2025)
Pregnancy help clinics like Next Step, are where “that path begins, offering hope in place of fear, support in place of shame,
and life in place of death.”
Thank you for continuing to stand with us. ~ Heather M Vasquez
P.S. Save the Date! Our annual Gala is on Saturday September 19th, 2026!