Organization launches 14th billoard in south St. Louis County
On an otherwise ordinary stretch of Tesson Ferry Road in south St. Louis County, a nearly 20-foot-tall digital image of Our Lady of Guadalupe serenely watches over a steady flow of traffic.
She is now one of more than a dozen images of Our Lady posted on billboards along roadways throughout the St. Louis area and beyond, and her mission remains the same — to “love your babies, born and unborn.”
The billboard is the 14th — and the first digital — erected by Our Lady of Guadalupe for Life, a nonprofit organization founded nearly 25 years ago by Anna Maria Usselmann and several friends. Usselmann, a member of Assumption Parish in Mattese, said the Blessed Mother compelled her to erect the billboards to share a pro-life message of love for all life.
Besides the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the billboards include the message, “Love your Babies, Born & Unborn” and include a number for OptionLine (1-800-712-4357), which connects mothers facing an unexpected pregnancy with one-on-one help. The phone number is operated by Heartbeat International, a Christian organization with a network of pregnancy resource centers throughout the United States and in other countries.
Usselmann remembers what a priest told her at a retreat years ago: “When you are going to die and you are going to face almighty God, what do you think He’s going to ask of you? ‘How many souls do you save for me?’ Those words, they stuck to my heart. I want to save life because you want to see all (souls) go to heaven.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe for Life started with two billboards in Missouri in 2004. There were six in 2009, and by 2018, that number grew to 12. Today, there are 14 billboards in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Texas. Nine parishes in the St. Louis area also display smaller images of the billboards on their campuses. The group relies solely on donations to maintain the billboards, which cost about $13,000 a month.
Over the years, the OptionLine has connected callers with help. Most seek pregnancy and parenting support, but others reach out with different personal struggles, and each is guided to resources for their specific needs.
Volunteers described one young woman who said she changed her mind about having an abortion after seeing the Blessed Mother on the billboard and calling the number. Another person, who was struggling in a difficult marriage and contemplating divorce, also saw a billboard and reached out for help in finding counseling resources. Another, compelled by seeing the image of Our Lady on her daily commute, decided to dive deeper into learning about the Blessed Mother and eventually became Catholic.
At a Sept. 11 blessing of the billboard along Tesson Ferry Road, Assumption pastor Father Edward Nemeth said that Mary has long been known as the patronness of the unborn and star of the new evangelization. “This is a tool of the new evangelization, these billboards, of course,” he said. “She is a powerful intercessor for the cause of life, and certainly we are in a huge battle with evil right now. Our country is fighting for its soul, and this is what gives me hope — seeing the devotion to Our Lady.”
In November, voters will decide on Amendment 3, which would limit most abortions except for cases of rape and incest (up to 12 weeks of gestation), emergencies and fetal anomalies. It would also repeal a 2024 voter-approved amendment, which allows for abortions through fetal viability but also offers a broad exception for the “life and physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
The proposed amendment would allow the legislature to reinstate health and safety inspections at abortion facilities; require parental consent for minors receiving medical procedures; require physicians performing abortions to have nearby hospital admitting privileges; ensure access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages; provide medical malpractice protections; and constitutionally prohibit gender transition surgeries and prescribing medications for gender transition, including puberty blockers, for minors younger than 18.
Mary Anne Florich, who attended the billboard blessing, said that Amendment 3 is a small step toward restoring how abortions are regulated in Missouri. The billboards share a broader message that she hopes resonates with people in their views on abortion.
“This is a campaign for hearts,” Florich said. “And that’s where we have to start small. We have to meet them at some place.”
