Pregnancy resource centers offer help to women and couples considering abortion and seek to meet their needs. Despite constant attacks by the pro-abortion movement, these centers have changed the lives of many women, couples, and families.
Pregnancy centers offer many services
In 2019 alone, pregnancy centers provided two million people with free services.1 Both surveys and reviews online show that people who go to these centers are happy with the experiences they have there. In one survey, over 90% of pregnancy center clients reported “the highest level of satisfaction with the services they received.”2
The pro-life Human Coalition has a program called Continuum of Care (COC), which it offers to pregnant women through pregnancy centers. Betty Craig, national director of social services for the group, describes the program:
When a woman is referred to the COC program, she first sits down with a social worker for an intake. Through this process, the coordinator can assess the unique challenges the woman is facing. Her needs can be anything from transportation, housing, a job, childcare, or pursuing her education. Together they develop a plan for the client to meet her goals, which may be related to health, career, education, finances, or relationships.3
The Human Coalition has a database of resources which includes organizations, government programs, churches, and individuals, all ready to help the woman have her baby and pursue her goals too. Through this network, the Human Coalition provides help with everything from housing to healthcare to material needs.
All sources in the database are vetted. The pregnancy center workers accompany and support the women when they contact the resources rather than just handing them phone numbers. They partner with them and help them on an ongoing basis.
Women tell their stories
Jas was pregnant and considering abortion when she went to Grapevine Women’s Care Clinic. She describes her experience there:
They helped me find doctors and helped me know what I needed to do each month. They made sure I had my prenatal care. Every few weeks I came back for ultrasounds, and they’d answer any questions I had. They basically held my hand through the whole process…. They were like my personalized nurses… They’ve been a helping hand the whole way through.4
Jas explains how when she had problems, the woman she worked with at the center was quick to find solutions:
I can ask one question, and she comes back with about 15 options for a solution. Like when I said I wanted to go back to school to study nursing, she came back with multiple schools and the financial aid available for each one.5
After her son was born, the staff of the pregnancy resource center kept in touch. She says of her caseworker:
[She] still checks on me and my son. I send her pictures. She’s part of my family, basically. The whole staff is so welcoming – they’re all great. You can’t have a bad day around them. They’re just all amazing.6
READ: Pregnancy center helps to save life of baby after teen takes abortion pill and instantly regrets it
Another woman, Brienda, describes how pregnancy center staff helped her:
They were an ear if I ever wanted to talk. I felt like abortion was my only option… until I went to the pregnancy center. I felt alone and defeated at the time, but [the staff] gave me hope, encouragement, and support. They threw a baby shower for me and gave me diapers, wipes, and other necessary supplies…
My son gave me the kick I needed. Having my son changed my life completely. He gave me the motivation and encouragement I needed to grow up. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and got up and started doing what I needed to as a mother.
I chose not just life but a better life. To give my kids a better life, I had to give myself a better life too.7
Secular Pro-Life asked their followers if any of them had gone to a pregnancy resource center when pregnant, and whether they found the center helpful. Several women responded.
Varina H answered the question:
Yes, [pregnancy centers] are very helpful. [They] still help me with maternity clothes, vouchers for baby clothes, lots of moral support, free ultrasounds, and said when the baby is born to go back and they will give me a baby shower basket with lots of clothes and diapers and other things.
They help with baby furniture, have counseling and parenting classes for free, and help with children’s clothes as well. Super grateful for all the help I’ve received.
Another woman, Crystal K, wrote:
I went to one for most of my pregnancy and a couple times afterward. I wanted to take advantage of their parenting classes before my baby arrived. My counselor was incredibly wonderful and kind, and they helped my little family with baby clothes and equipment we needed. I learned so much there that’s been helpful and I’m so thankful.
These are just a few of the people pregnancy resource centers have helped. Pro-abortion groups are constantly trying to shut these centers down, but shutting down pregnancy centers would hurt millions of vulnerable people.
- Mai Bean, et al. Pregnancy Centers Stand the Test of Time: A Legacy of Life and Love Report Series (Charlotte Lozier Institute, October 13, 2020) 16 – 18, 44
- Rick Garrett The Duping of America (Maitland, Florida: Liberty Hill Press, 2021) 60
- Brittany Smith and Natasha Smith Unplanned Grace: A Compassionate Conversation on Life & Choice (Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C Cook, 2021) 50-51
- Ibid., 51-52
- Ibid., 52
- Ibid.
- Ibid., 56
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