Jean Marie Davis had only $1.38 to her name when she turned to a pregnancy center for help. She was pregnant, homeless and running for her life.
“That was at the end of my life of being in sex trafficking,” Davis remembered. “I was … scared and I had no hope.”
At the time, she was considering an abortion. But, after meeting with a counselor at the pregnancy center in New Hampshire, Davis chose life for her son, discovered Christ and decided to dedicate her life to helping women in similar situations. Today, she serves as the executive director of Branches Family Resource Center, a pregnancy center in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Along the way, Davis has shared her testimony while speaking at events, such as the 2024 March for Life in Washington, D.C., and writing for outlets like The Hill in 2023.
Davis spoke with Our Sunday Visitor after Branches sued Vermont state officials over a 2023 law that targeted life-affirming pregnancy centers. The state recently amended that law as a result of the case, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Clark, according to faith-based legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which brought the lawsuit on behalf of Vermont pregnancy centers.
The lawsuit
Julia Payne Koon, legal counsel for ADF’s Center for Life, said that they challenged two different provisions in the original law.
“One that said that if pregnancy centers advertise their services in a way that Vermont’s pro-abortion attorney general considers misleading, the center could face fines up to $10,000,” she said. “The second provision governed who could provide health care services, information and counseling at pregnancy centers.”
The amendments, Payne said, repeal “what we call the ‘provider restriction,’ which governed who can provide services, information and counseling at pregnancy centers” and “got rid of the blatant viewpoint discrimination in the law.”
“It no longer targets pro-life pregnancy centers specifically,” she said. “It’s just a general law that governs advertising for health care services by any entity.”
For her part, Davis responded that “we should be free to serve women, to offer the support that they need, without the fear of unjust government punishment.”
From being helped to helping others
Davis first entered the doors of a pregnancy center after she discovered she was pregnant with her son, Jonah. She came after being trafficked in 33 states, from the ages of 2 to 29.
“I suffered serial abuse, rape and even murder attempts by various pimps,” she writes in The Hill. “I was heavily addicted to hard drugs such as crystal meth and cocaine. I eventually reached a point where I intentionally sought to end my life by overdosing.”
That background makes her relatable to many of the center’s clients, including a woman who entered Branches two weeks ago at 17 weeks pregnant.
“She said, ‘Jean, I just want to keep this baby,'” Davis told Our Sunday Visitor. “Because a year ago, she was pregnant, but her pimp had her in a closet — and he found out that she was pregnant, and he beat her to where she had a violent miscarriage.”
A life transformed
Davis remembered the pregnancy center counselor who helped her: Phyllis Phelps. Phelps, she said, shared the Gospel and Jesus Christ with her.
In particular, Phelps shared a Bible verse, John 3:16, which reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
“That’s when I accepted Jesus Christ,” Davis said.
Phelps, who later founded House of Hope NH, a faith-based residential program for women overcoming addiction and other life-controlling issues, helped Davis enter a program called New Life Home for Women and Children that strengthened her faith and taught her life skills and how to be a mother. At first, Davis thought she couldn’t go: She sat and cried when she learned that the entrance fee was $500.
“I said, ‘I don’t have this money. They’re not going to accept me,'” she remembered. “Nobody else accepted me — nobody else wanted me. It was homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters, they all had denied me.”
Phelps suggested that they pray, and they did. The next day, Phelps told Davis that the fee was paid.
From there, Davis attended Northpoint Bible College in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where she delved deeper into her faith.
“From that point, I knew I was called to be in ministry and to share the Gospel and to share Jesus and to be a light in a dark place,” she said.
She applied to the director position at Branches at Phelps’ encouragement. Today, through Branches, Davis provides free emotional, material, educational and spiritual help for pregnant and parenting women and families in need. Among other things, her pregnancy center offers free pregnancy tests and consultations, adoption referrals, post-abortion support and domestic violence and human trafficking assistance.
It also provides classes in parenting and life skills and runs a scholarship program for people pursuing higher education. Their material support includes everything from clothing and diapers to food and formula.
New beginnings
Davis says her son, Jonah, saved her life. Now 10 years old, he cheers her on and challenges her to do more to help women in need.
“He’s my heart,” she said. “I try to help women, and I do what I do, because of the fact that he’s my son.”
And, following in Phelps’ footsteps, Davis continues to rely on prayer to move forward. Even at Branches, which is in the process of attempting to become a medical clinic, she encourages her staff to pray.
“I said, ‘We don’t have the money, but God does, let’s pray,'” she said. “I still live like that today where, being a single mom, I look for Jesus and I say, ‘OK, God, I need you to provide’ — and he does, every time.”
