(Oregon Right to Life) — Unborn babies are being saved across Oregon thanks to the Catholic Knights of Columbus’ powerful program to equip pro-life pregnancy resource centers with ultrasound machines. The project helps abortion-vulnerable women choose life by giving them the opportunity to see the humanity of their unborn babies with the aid of technology.
The Knights of Columbus (KoC), a Catholic men’s organization founded in the late 1800s, boasts a current membership of 2.2 million in 17,000 councils (local groups) globally. The Knights engage in extensive charitable work worldwide – from disaster relief to advocating for the unborn.
In 2009, the organization launched its initiative to place ultrasound machines in pro-life pregnancy resource centers and clinics. To date, the Knights have donated more than 1,500 ultrasound machines, valued at more than $72 million total, across all 50 states.
“One of the core fundamentals in the Knights of Columbus is that [human life] has dignity in every stage,” Oregon Knights of Columbus State Deputy Bob Adams. told Oregon Right to Life in an email. “In teaching with our Catholic Faith, we defend life from the moment of conception through natural death.”
Adams, who joined the Knights of Columbus in 2003 – fulfilling a childhood promise to his mother – said that most of the Oregon KoC councils are involved in some kind of pro-life ministry. Those ministries include their Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP) program, local walks for life, candlelight vigils, support for Father Taaffe Homes and other maternity homes, and “hours upon hours of volunteer” work.
Perhaps the “most visible” of those efforts is the ultrasound program, which has a “specific purpose of humanizing the unborn child to help abortion-minded women choose life,” Adams said. He explained that there “is a high percentage of abortion minded women who will keep their baby upon viewing [or] hearing the heartbeat through an [u]ltrasound. According to The Charlotte Lozier Institute, around 75% of women who are at risk for abortion and go to a pregnancy resource center ultimately choose life after they see an ultrasound of their developing baby.
Over the past 15 years, Adams said, the Oregon Knights of Columbus have helped place 45 ultrasound machines in pro-life pregnancy resource centers statewide. They’ve placed two this year, with more in the works. Adams’, whose term as State Deputy expires in July, 2027, said he hopes to raise the Oregon total from 45 to 50 ultrasound machines before he passes the baton.
Clinics and resource centers that collaborate with the Knights in this program receive fundraising support from their local council and a 50% match from the Knights of Columbus’ worldwide headquarters (known as the Supreme Council). The pregnancy clinics and resource centers that receive the ultrasound machines have reported inspiring real-life stories of hope and restoration.
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Madge Osborn, executive director of Pacific Pregnancy Clinic in Coos Bay, told Oregon Right to Life that working with the Knights of Columbus to secure two ultrasound machines “has been a tremendous blessing.”
“It cannot be stressed enough the importance of having this tool in a pregnancy clinic as we introduce moms to their unborn children,” Osborn said. She told Oregon Right to Life about one young woman, Alexa*, who came into the clinic “with only one thought on her mind: ‘If I’m pregnant, I’m having an abortion.’” Homeless and struggling with methamphetamine addiction, Alexa said she didn’t want to bring a child into such a “mess.”
“When Alexa’s pregnancy result came back positive she was angry and scared,” Osborn said. But Alexa agreed to an ultrasound just to find out how far along in her pregnancy she was.
“As soon as she saw the flickering heart of her baby – her eyes filled with tears and with a soft voice, [she said] ‘That’s my baby,’” Osborn recalled. “Instantly, her heart filled with love for her unborn child.”
Alexa chose life and returned to Pacific Pregnancy Clinic to take part in pregnancy and parenting education. She has since found healing from her drug addiction, according to Osborn, and says she’s thankful to God for “saving my child and me.”
“It was truly amazing to see such a dramatic change,” Osborn said. “So true that ‘seeing is believing.’”
For Adams, that’s what the ultrasound program is all about. If each of the machines that the Knights place can save just one life, he said, “that reward far outweighs the effort.”
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The Oregon Knights of Columbus received special recognition for their life-affirming service at the Oregon Pro-Life Gala in Salem in September, where Adams, along with Oregon KoC District Marshal Ed Andolino and KoC Life Director Ken Purdy, received the inaugural Pro-Life Excellence Award from Oregon Right to Life.
“Someday, when the history of this generation is written, the measure of our success will not be the arguments,” Adams said in his acceptance speech.
“It will be measured in the lives that we have saved, the mothers who were supported, the families who found hope, in the children who were given that chance to grow up and be the person that God created them to be.”
*name changed for privacy
