We pray for women who know that life is beginning within them, who face the agony of wondering what to do when they do not know if they can cope.

Some of them are women we know already. Some are women we have yet to meet. Some are in our own places of worship. Some are in our families, workplace, neighborhoods, and other places of worship.

The reasons for their dilemmas are as varied as the women themselves. None of us can actually walk in their shoes, nor can we know all the background and circumstances involved. Each will struggle with how best to decide what to do when no remaining choice will be a good one.

Help them, Gracious God, to find wise counsel, if they choose to seek it; understanding friends if they choose to tell their story; caring clergy if they want to explore the morality of their choices.

But most of all, give them strength to meet what they must face.

Amen.