By Message Staff
ALEXANDRIA – Supporters of the first pro-life pregnancy center in central Louisiana gathered Friday, Aug. 25, to celebrate both the hiring of a director and the announcement of when the highly anticipated center would formally open its doors.
Marksville’s Claire Lemoine was introduced as the director of the Cenla Pregnancy Center. Following her introduction, she addressed a supportive gathering. The facility is located in the old Baptist Bookstore, next to the Baptist Building in Alexandria.
“Because of a group of passionate, Christian, pro-life leaders in central Louisiana, you are standing in this Cenla Pregnancy Center,” Lemoine said. “And what an exciting time it is to be part of the pro-life movement here in our own community.
“This community has said yes to the fight for life,” she continued. “This community has say yes to supporting our mothers and babies and families. This community has said yes – we need a pregnancy center in central Louisiana.”
She shared God has been preparing her for the position for some time.
For the past 10 years, Lemoin has worked with low-income, first-time mothers in a home setting. She also has served for more than 20 years in the field of maternal child nursing.
With a scheduled opening date of Dec. 4, the center will offer pregnancy decision coaching by trained advocates, free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds, information about pregnancy options, maternity and physical resources and post-decision support including parenting education and abortion recovery groups.
More than 200 churches of multiple Christian denominations have worked together to establish the pregnancy resource center, a non-profit, pro-life organization that will provide compassionate support to women and men faced with difficult pregnancy decisions.
“We come from various Christian denominations and backgrounds, but we have one common cause,” said Brian Gunter, the pregnancy center’s board president. “We are all 100 percent pro-life.
“We believe in protecting life from conception until natural death,” said Gunter, who also serves as pastor of First Baptist Church in Pollock. “We believe true compassion demands true sacrifice. While the culture of death seeks to profit from unplanned pregnancies, we will offer all of our services completely free of charge. The Cenla Pregnancy Center will serve as a beacon of light and hope to families in our community.”
