Recently I met a most extraordinary woman: Mary Cunningham Agee. She is a graduate of Harvard who become a corporate executive in her 20s. Today she is the mother of two and the founder of the Nurturing Network, a non-profit organization which gives a mother with an unwanted pregnancy a real alternative.

Six years ago she suffered a miscarriage and came to understand the full impact of a maternal loss. She used her training from Harvard and the business world to do research on the reasons for an abortion. She discovered that most abortions were compelled by job demands, associates at school, pressure from family or mate. She was appalled by this "ultimate violence to women" and she responded by founding the Nurturing Network.

The Nurturing Network has a database of employers and colleges that will supply new opportunities quickly for career or schooling while a pregnant woman escapes an unaccepting or hostile environment. If a woman with an unwanted pregnancy wishes to change addresses as well, the Nurturing Network will locate a family who will offer a home rent-free, nearly anywhere in the country.

Thank God for Mary Agee and the Nurturing Network. Here is a real alternative for the unmarried women with an unplanned pregnancy. Now she can choose life. The Network offers a woman a full support system in order to bring her pregnancy to term and, perhaps, keep her child. The Nurturing Network offers counseling, medical support, a place to stay, a family to stay with, a job, financial assistance, a transfer to another school, adoption counseling, spiritual help, prenatal classes—all with privacy and confidentiality.

I praise Mary Agee. She offers hope to those who often think there is no way out. Mary Cunningham Agee can be reached or (208) 344-7200. Her address is the Nurturing Network, 910 Main Street, Suite 360, P.O. Box 2050, Boise, ID. 83701. If you wish to assist in this great work for nurturing life, you can participate by:

1. offering your professional time and experience
2. contributing financial support
3. opening your home to a mother in need
4. providing employment for a qualified Client
5. encouraging your college or university to join the Network Consortium

If you know of someone with an unplanned pregnancy, here is a CHOICE, a real alternative.

In the abortion debate there are many voices and slogans clamoring for our attention. Mary Agee provides a voice of hope and help, a voice of reason and right. Her actions and those of the Nurturing Network speak louder than words.