The charity is primarily concerned with assisting teens in coping with unplanned pregnancy, and creating a healthy, positive environment from the time of early pregnancy through to early childhood.
According to Australian Christian Lobby, around 90,000 abortions occur each year in Australia along with a growing acceptance of the procedure in society today. Charities like the Brave Foundation help to create awareness and encourage young women to make the right choices.
Research by Life Network Australia suggests a significantly higher likeliness of depression developing in teenagers who had abortions, with 78.6% of the 15-18 year olds who had abortions displaying symptoms of major depression, compared to 31% of their peers.
Further studies see that women supporting the option to abort were shocked by their own reaction to having the procedure performed, and often suffered from strong feelings of betrayal and failure.
Despite a considerable decrease in the number of young women giving birth in Australia over the last few decades, this has been due to improved sex education, the availability of contraception and access to abortion, rather than a decrease in sexual activity among teenagers, according to the State Government of Victoria.
The Brave Foundation founder Bernadette Black, winner of the 2009 Mother of the Year Award, is now a mother of three living in Tasmania. Mrs Black overcame a youth and early adulthood filled with shame and regret, after an unintended pregnancy at 16 years of age
Being a newly committed Christian at the time she firmly opposed submitting to abortion and made the decision of becoming a parent while also completing her high school education and eventually becoming a qualified nurse.
Through her inspirational book Brave Little Bear, and her talks at many schools, churches and community groups across the country, the story of Bernadette Black gives hope to youth that they can still succeed in life.
For more information, please visit: www.bravefoundation.org.au
