The Knights of Columbus announced Thursday a new goal to donate at least $5 million to pro-life pregnancy centers and maternity homes across the United States and Canada by June 30, 2023.

“As Knights, we are called to courage and self-sacrifice,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in a press release. “Standing for life means making personal sacrifices for women and children in need — being willing to give of our time, skills and financial resources, and accepting the fact that the fruits of our labors are often hidden.”

The Knights of Columbus (KofC) is the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization, with more than two million members in 16,000 councils worldwide. 

The new call for funding of pro-life pregnancy centers and maternity homes comes at a time when many centers across the country are paying out of pocket for increased security measures and repairs. 

Those new infrastructure developments at centers are a direct result of the many vandalisms that have occurred at pro-life pregnancy centers across the nation. 

The vandalism began in early May when the news outlet Politico leaked a Supreme Court draft ruling showing that the justices may have been prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

The new initiative is called Aid and Support After Pregnancy or “ASAP” for short. ASAP aims to raise the money by calling on all U.S. and Canadian councils to increase donations to pro-life pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and “other organizations which give direct assistance to new mothers and/or babies.”

“Mothers and children need our help now more than ever,” Kelly said. 

The KofC has a strong history of supporting pro-life pregnancy centers across the nation. One of the organization's projects is its Ultrasound Initiative, which has provided pro-life pregnancy centers  in all 50 states with more than 1,500 ultrasound machines since 2009.

The KofC says its members have volunteered at pro-life pregnancy centers for more than 1.7 million hours collectively from 2018 to 2021. Over that time, the KofC donated more than $18 million in funds and supplies to pro-life pregnancy centers and maternity homes, according to the press release.

This story was updated after posting to make clear is it a one-year campaign.