Jennifer Gunter, an OB/GYN who performs abortions, tweeted Wednesday that “Abortion is a symptom of needing to not be pregnant.” It’s also her answer to that condition.

The unmarried pregnant women in my local Embrace Grace group would disagree.

Mind Your Own Uterus, Forced Birthers

Gunter, a strong abortion advocate, doesn’t want to eliminate abortion. She makes clear in a string of tweets that she believes it a positive good. Women need it for their “bodily autonomy” because “Pregnancy is invasive.” She insists that “Any other discussion of abortion that focuses on ‘baby’ and ‘images’ is totally disingenuous. Those are forced birth talking points.”

She calls pro-lifers “forced birthers.” She tells us to “Mind your own uterus.” Americans fight over abortion only because “a percentage of people want to force birth, they do not care about fetal lives and because punishing women raises $ for political campaigns and gets votes.”

Gunter wants abortion kept legal. We should eliminate poverty and increase access to healthcare and “quality sex education.” I would guess her preferred sex ed is the Planned Parenthood kind, which assumes promiscuity and hopes it can teach schoolchildren to have sex “safely.”

Abortion the Symptom

What is abortion a symptom of? Abortion is a symptom of the Sexual Revolution — the breakdown in sexual ethics that should be connected to marriage, committed intimacy and children.

Abortion is a symptom of families in which love is wanting. It’s a symptom of relational environments where news of pregnancy is met with judgement instead of excitement and support. It’s a symptom of fear and isolation, where God intended grace, love, and community instead.

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It’s a symptom of sex traffickers and rapists who take advantage of young women. Of husbands and boyfriends and “hook-ups” who use women for sex. And of a system in which both turn to Planned Parenthood to silently get rid of the evidence.

Abortion is a symptom of the death, theft and destruction that the enemy of our souls comes to bring. But God has everything a woman and her growing child needs, and He uses His Church body to deliver it.

Embrace Grace

Who has an answer to these symptoms? Who deals with the condition Dr. Gunter wants to “solve” by killing the mother’s unborn child? The Christian Church. Here’s one way. Embrace Grace is an international organization comprised of church-led support groups for women who are unmarried and pregnant. It’s amazing. It’s part of the answer to abortion that God is giving the Church.

Our group of women meets weekly at my church to celebrate new life, share updates, pray for needs, and meet needs. We eat dinner as we listen to a video lesson. In the video, women share what happened to them after seeing a positive pregnancy test result. Some stories in the lesson are marked by rape or abuse. Most of the women describe shame. All the stories are marked by community, healing, God’s love, and parenting or adoption. Hearing these stories, the women in our group know that they are not alone.

It’s been an honor getting to know these women, hear their updates, and walk alongside them. The experienced mothers in our group answer questions about what to expect. What do you bring to the hospital? What is the difference between a bouncer and an exersaucer? How do you get through the first few sleepless weeks? I don’t have answers to any of these questions. But I am there, learning about how to take care of babies and excited for what God is doing in these women’s lives.

Life is a Symptom of Love

At the end of our meeting, the blooms — that is, the women that this group exists to support — go through tables of donated goods and pick out what they want. Some days it’s maternity clothes. Other days baby clothes, books, toys, or other items. It’s fun to learn their tastes and styles as we sort through the cute options and pack them up into a bin to take home.

In a month we’ll be having a day-long outing of pampering called “Princess Day,” with a big baby shower at the end. Church members sponsor a table-full of gifts for each bloom. The goal is to make sure she feels cherished and equipped with everything she needs.

Here are some of the things I’ve heard group leaders and pastors say to the blooms: “I’m so excited!” “How far along are you?” “We’re here for you.” “You can do this.” “You are so brave.” “I was pregnant when I was your age, and I had an abortion. I’m so proud of you for choosing life.” “You’re going to be a great mom.”

Person by person, changed life by changed life, we can break the power of lies that lead to abortion. Because life is a symptom of love.

Aliya Kuykendall is a Staff Writer for The Stream. You can follow Aliya on Twitter @AliyaKuykendall and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.