“You’re not really pro-life, you’re just pro-birth! You don’t care about women, you just want to control their bodies!” Chances are if you’ve spoken with someone who supports abortion you’ve heard some iteration of the above. Is it true that the pro-life movement only cares about life inside the womb? There are plenty of ways that pro-life individuals actively care for life inside and outside of the womb, but for a moment, let’s focus on one particular way that the pro-life movement cares for women and their children both during and after pregnancy: pregnancy resource centers. Pregnancy resource centers, or PRCs, offer compassionate care to women in need of resources and support. In many ways, they are the hands and feet of the pro-life movement, caring for women during and after pregnancy, and offering counseling and support to post-abortive women. And yet, despite the good that pregnancy resource centers do in their communities, abortion activists increasingly target them, harassing them and falsely labeling them as “fake clinics.” So let’s take a look at the truth about pregnancy resource centers.
Pregnancy resource centers are non-profits that provide resources to women who are experiencing unplanned pregnancies. In the three largest networks there are over 2,300 centers serving over 1.9 million women every year. As well as equipping women with the truth about abortion, these pro-life centers also offer adoption resources, parenting classes, and supplies such as diapers, formula, and clothing. Additionally, some, but not all, offer medical services. Those that do not offer them do not pretend that they do. Pro-life pregnancy resource centers also state on their websites, as well as in their interactions with clients, that they do not perform or refer for abortions.
The abortion industry consistently fails vulnerable women, disregarding their needs and even their safety as they put their bottom line above human life and dignity. As The Public Discourse has pointed out, while pregnancy resource centers will invest significant time and resources into serving abortion-minded women, abortion activists do not offer the same kind of support to women who do not want to abort. When a woman walks through the doors of an abortion facility, the staff typically have a financial interest in persuading her to abort her child, and often offer very little support if she does not. A PRC, on the other hand, will pour resources into women who need help, including post-abortive women who have been harmed by the abortion industry.
If the abortion movement is really about “choice,” it doesn’t make sense to target organizations that connect women with the resources they need to support their decision to welcome a child. Instead, pro-abortion groups funnel resources into public smear campaigns of organizations that are actually serving women. Telling the truth about abortion and empowering, equipping, and serving women during and after pregnancy is how abortion becomes unthinkable, which is exactly why abortion groups target PRCs.
Although it is not surprising, it is hypocritical and disturbing that the abortion movement would oppose informed consent laws and express outrage that PRCs are offering women information about the risks of abortion. If knowledge is power, then what does the abortion industry’s desire to keep women in the dark say about their agenda?
Unlike the abortion industry, which has a history of pressuring women into abortion, enabling abusers, and turning a blind eye when women are being coerced into abortion, PRCs respect women’s dignity by giving them the truth about abortion and offering them and their families compassionate care.
Pregnancy resource centers have withstood the abortion industry’s attacks because no matter how much money abortion groups pour into “investigating” and “exposing” PRCs, the only thing they will successfully uncover is a network of care centers that are invested in the well-being of women and children. The fact that abortion activists believe that compassionate care is something that needs to be “exposed” and shut down only highlights their disregard for women.
