A frequent claim by pro-abortion activists is that the pro-life movement doesn’t care about women. The courageous work of pro-life pregnancy help centers on behalf of babies, moms, and dads, however, tells an entirely different story. I’ve often said that these centers are where the “rubber meets the road” in changing hearts and saving lives — while typically having precious few minutes to do it.
Take a look at the documented life-affirming services these centers provide. For more than 50 years, pregnancy help centers in North America have been offering compassion and support to women, equipping them to make the crucial decision to reject abortion and embrace life for their babies.
In 1968, the first center on the continent, Birthright, opened its doors in Toronto, Canada, focusing on providing non-judgmental, confidential and free pregnancy outreach “rooted in love for both” mothers and their babies. The founding of Alternatives to Abortion (later Heartbeat International), the Christian Action Council (now Care Net), and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), which was a pioneer in providing ultrasound technology to medical facilities, soon followed.
Pregnancy center networks have only increased in number and the services they provide.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute, the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony List and a partner with Life Issues Institute, has just issued a new, comprehensive report, “A Half Century of Hope, a Legacy of Life and Love,” detailing the extraordinary contributions pregnancy centers made in 2017.
The report was created from the findings of a robust survey of approximately 2,600 of the 2,750 pro-life pregnancy help centers in the United States. It covers well-known pregnancy care networks such as Care Net, Heartbeat International, NIFLA, and smaller networks in the United States. The results are truly remarkable. Key findings of the report include:
• Pregnancy centers provided nearly 2,000,000 people with free services, saving communities at least $161 million annually.
• 67,400 volunteers, including 7,500 medical professionals, donated their time and skills at these centers.
• Sonographers provided 400,100 hours of free services.
• 295,000 moms and dads attended free parenting courses.
Additionally, pro-life pregnancy help centers provide pregnancy tests, sexual risk avoidance, prenatal education, medical services including ultrasounds, STD testing, community referrals, and material support.
To highlight the impact these centers have on a human level, the report features powerful, personal stories of the families who have experienced the healing and hope pregnancy help centers provide.
Raven suddenly got sick and, while in the emergency room, she found out she was six weeks pregnant with little Zion. Martel said, “I wasn’t expecting a child … we weren’t sure if we were going to keep him or not.”
But help came from a most unexpected person. Worried about being able to finish school and the toll early pregnancy symptoms were taking on her, Raven decided to contact Planned Parenthood and schedule an abortion. Miraculously, the receptionist at the abortion facility told Raven instead to get in touch with A Woman’s Pregnancy Choice, a local pregnancy help center.
After watching the ultrasound and hearing Zion’s tiny heartbeat, Raven and Martel knew that Zion was a special gift from God. And they kept him.
This is just one of countless families pregnancy help centers have aided throughout the years! Something particularly close to my own heart are the services these centers provide to men, who tend to get overlooked in the abortion decision. In 2017, the 2,600 pregnancy centers surveyed counseled 563 fathers dealing with the effects of abortion and educated 36,500 fathers on parenting. Dads who have experienced the emotional and psychological trauma abortion inflicts need our love and support. Pregnancy help centers are making sure they are given the care they so desperately require.
Pregnancy centers are key to the future of the pro-life movement. As we grow as a nation and increasingly pass laws that protect the lives of the unborn, these centers provide crucial support for millions of families.
[This column by Bradley Mattes, president of Life Issues Institute, was posted online on September 13, 2018 at www.lifeissues.org]
The following article is one i sent to John Fortmeyer regarding stopping abortion centers and memorial/park for life
Praise you Lord for answering the prayers and labors of so many to close the Lovejoy Surgicenter, Portland, OR center of murder, have mercy on their souls that they might repent and believe.
Some very good news in a very dark time but then God is bringing light and His purpose even in man’s evil. I rejoice to hear that the Surgicenter has closed and will indeed be in prayer and any action i can take to stop anything/one replacing this evil.
I will be contacting 40 Days for Life and Oregon Right to Life and others to see what plans there are in the works and i’m sure you’ll keep us abreast.
One of the things i am going to propose is that the Surgicenter site be turned into a private park for children and in that park with swings filled with children, and a pro life clinic and filled with testimonials of the children saved, the mothers brought to Christ, the fathers repenting of their sin, and a statue of Doc Hitte sitting in his lawn chair, as he did for nearly two decades with his sign and passing out his tracts and smiling at those women who were coming to have their children murdered and him kindly talking to them, and some in tears walking away and bringing new life to our city. Maybe there are some others that have been faithful supporters or prayer warriors or have stories to tell of life and perhaps some of them in statue, maybe Dr. Tofler recounting all the many labors he has put in to saving lives over the years.
I know of a young lady who worked there who i spoke with a couple of times, encouraging her to read Ps. 139 (which should be on one of the memorial plaques) I never saw her after the two encounters but years after i spoke with her she sent me a letter, i don’t know how she found me as i believe i only gave her my first name, and she thanked me for pointing to Christ and that she’d rededicated her life to the Lord and was no longer working at the abortion center. I suspect there are volumes of stories like this that could be told, but then Lord knows many more, that could be a part of an onsite memorial.
i don’t know about all these “going viral” “go fund me” things but perhaps a fund could be set up to purchase the site. I suspect that if that was going to happen that the current owners shouldn’t know until afterwards who the buyers are or they’ll not sell, any way, i am getting way ahead of myself, talking out loud.
Lord willing this Labor of Love will not go w/o a memorial, which may be a miracle in today’s culture of hatred towards anything good, or Godly.
What do you think, do another article as a kick off for the opposition to any further centers for murder and a memorial park where the center was?
In prayer and fasting and repenting, Neh 1, vaughn