ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Part of the purpose of Liberal’s Grace Place Pregnancy Care Center is to educate women about pregnancy.
As part of its annual fundraising banquet, center officials bring in speakers from across the country to educate women about pregnancy issues, including teen pregnancy and abortions.
This year’s banquet will take place Sept. 17 at the Seward County Ag Building with nationally known sex education speaker Pam Stenzel, and the following night, Stenzel will be back at the Ag Building for a youth rally also hosted by Grace Place.
Grace Place Director Letty Hernandez said Stenzel has a very important message for young people at both the banquet and rally.
“We’re excited because we feel the teens and the youth can be educated on the message Pam wants to give to them, and we may have less unwanted pregnancies, less (sexually transmitted diseases), better families,” she said. “She is a well-known speaker who has spoken worldwide. She has spoken to more than 300,000 people a year. She has spent her entire life working for crisis pregnancy centers and helping students save sex for marriage.”
Hernandez said Stenzel, who talks at youth events and fundraising events for pregnancy center, talks about sexual integrity.
“She’s also a youth leader at camp, and she has a clear direct message to the young people,” she said. “She delivers an important and powerful message. She talks about how the brain works, how it’s different in boys than it is in girls. She talks about the STDs and how to avoid a terrible price tag with that.”
Stenzel too has produced videos, including one in 1996 called “Youth for Christ” for churches and a later project called “Sex Has a Price Tag.”
Hernandez said the youth rally will likewise feature a raffle for a game system and other prizes, as well as a band.
“We want to fill the Ag Building,” she said. “We want as many teens and young adults to come and receive this message, and we want to impact our community in a way that will help the pregnancy centers see a lower number of teen pregnancies, a lower number of unwanted pregnancies and a lower number of abortions.”
Hernandez said Stenzel is in advocate for life, and she helps students understand saving sex for marriage can save them from a lifetime of tragic consequences.
“She knows the young people have the ability to make good choices if they’re given the appropriate information, and they’ll be challenged to save sex for marriage after the things they will learn at this teen rally,” she said.
The youth rally will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 18 in the Ag Building, and Hernandez said church youth pastors are encouraged to bring their youth and for their youth to invite friends.
“They can register by going to graceplacepcc.com,” she said. “It’ll be a fun time. This lady really did a good job last year at our banquet, and we voted we want her back. We want to share her with our community.”
In 2023, Hernandez said Southwest Medical Center recorded 57 births to girls under the age of 18, which is higher than the Kansas average of 30 per county. No 2023 numbers were available for abortions in Seward County, but Hernandez said 29 were recorded in 2022.
With Stenzel in high demand, Hernandez said having the youth rally the day after the banquet was critical.
“To get her here, we had to pay a lot of money,” she said. “She comes all the way from Florida. She has a lot on her schedule, and we figured we might as well take advantage of her while we have her. We would love to have her again to speak at the high school or the college. If approved, we would love to pay for her to come and talk to the youth at the schools or at a church.”
Hernandez said it is critical that not only youth, but also adults attend the Sept. 18 rally.
“It’s really important for any parent who has teens who can absorb some of this message and deliver it to their kids,” she said. “We want our children to be successful in life. It’s okay to get married at a young age if you find the guy you want. That’s okay if you’re ready to start a family, ready to get married. That’s great.”
Rather, Hernandez said the rally is for those who are sexually active at this time and having sex without knowing the consequences and have an abortion and later regret it.
“We want to avoid all that,” she said. “We want to avoid the hurt. It affects both boy and girl. It’s planning out your life and making the right choices is what it comes down to. If the youth can receive this message, they can be more aware of what some of those consequences or price tags to their choices are. We recommend anyone and everyone to come. The building only holds 448 people. We wanted to fill a thousand, but they said it’s too small.”
As for how to bring teen pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy numbers down, Hernandez said this starts with education, namely to go along with programs such as health as part of a school’s program to allow teachers to teach it.
“It’s not about the hows and the whys, but the knowledge of the consequences to sex before marriage,” she said.
Hernandez said bringing these numbers down is critical for several reasons.
“You have fewer women in poverty, more successful children because of the established family of mother and father, fewer unwanted children in the foster care system, fewer abortions, and all around more success for everyone,” she said.
Attendance at the youth rally is free of charge, but Hernandez said those interested in attending still need to register to save a seat.
“They can go to the Web site or give us a call to get more information,” she said. “We have a Facebook page under Grace Place Pregnancy Care Center, and our Web site is graceplacepcc.com. They can go on there to register themselves. When the kids arrive, there will be a raffle to win prizes, and we will have Rhonda Kinser giving a testimony and a band. It’ll be a fun night. It’ll be two hours, and there’ll be enough seating.”
