Pro-Abort Activists Attack Pregnancy Resource Centers

Pro-Abortion Activists Renew Attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers

Feminists who gathered for a conference last week in Washington, D.C., said President Barack Obama's pro-abortion mandate is likely to unite the pro-life movement like it did during Bill Clinton's two terms as president. Panelists said that meant there is a need to renew efforts to discredit the pro-life movement, including defeating legislation that would support pregnancy resource centers.
 
In reference to that end, Christina Page, author of "How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America," noted the Pregnant Women Support Act, sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) in the 100th Congress and reintroduced in the Senate in January.

The act calls for a range of programs to help women facing unplanned pregnancies who decide to carry their child to term, including counseling, pre-natal and postnatal health care, and the funding of "Life Support Centers to offer comprehensive and supportive services for pregnant women, mothers and children."
 
"This was his attempt to say, 'Hey listen, we can provide support for women who may not ordinarily want to terminate if they had more support,' " Page said. "It's a problematic bill. One of the things it does is (support) crisis pregnancy centers and that's a non-starter."
 
"We're not going to ever step up to the plate and accept that health centers that mislead women should get any federal money," Page said.

Page and other pro-abortion activists and organizations claim that pro-life centers mislead women by giving them inaccurate medical information, including using untrained staff to perform ultrasounds; frightening women by telling them about the harm an abortion can cause and lying about pregnancy test results to trick women into waiting until it is too late to have an abortion.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, a network of Christian pro-life pregnancy resource centers, told CNSNews.com. "Particularly for our medical clinics. The whole goal of the medical clinic is to confirm whether or not you have a viable uterine pregnancy."

Hartshorn said that 50 percent of the 1,800 centers that are affiliated with Heartbeat International are licensed through a physician or by the state where it operates and that medical professionals conduct ultrasounds, if a client signs paperwork to confirm she voluntarily agrees to the procedure.

"We are committed to medical accuracy," Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, also a Christian pro-life organization that supports a network of more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers across the country, told CNSnews.com.

Delahoyde said that Care Net has a national medical director and a medical advisory board made up of obstetricians and other health care professionals.

New Media Strategy

Feminists at the conference, which focused on how they can use the new media to promote their agenda, said that blogs and Web sites should be used to warn women about pregnancy resource centers.
 
 Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Web site warns about a center on its Web site under the "Abortion" section.

"Family planning clinics, like your local Planned Parenthood health center, have specially trained staff who can talk with you about all of your options," the Web site says. "But beware of so-called 'crisis pregnancy centers.' These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion. They often don't give women all their options. They have a history of scaring women into not having abortions. Absolutely no one should pressure you or trick you into making a decision you're not comfortable with."

Another page lists specific warnings, including, "[Crisis Pregnancy Centers] may tell you that you are not pregnant even if you are. This may fool you into continuing your pregnancy without knowing it. If your decision is delayed, it could make abortion more risky. It could also keep you from getting early prenatal care."

The Washington state-based Feminist Women's Health Center Web site puts some of its warning about pregnancy resource centers in bold lettering:

"If you discover you are seeking help from an anti-abortion facility, protect yourself from further harassment. Leave immediately and do not return. When you do locate a professional clinic that offers information about all options, be sure to tell them about your experience at the fake clinic and let them help you sort out the facts from the religious views or outright lies you have been told."

Planned Parenthood refers visitors to its Web site to the National Abortion Federation (NAF), which provides the location of abortion clinics in all 50 states. Under the heading "The impact of Anti-Choice Activities," the Web site says:

"The past few years have revealed a new anti-choice strategy of offering 'counseling' services to women. Rather than exploring the roots of a woman's psychological distress and providing unbiased therapy, anti-choice counselors tend to direct her anger towards the abortion provider by claiming that women are misinformed about the psychological trauma that abortion inflicts. Due to the political bias of these counselors and their misuse of psychological services, women can be left feeling angry and betrayed."

Offering options

Hartshorn said pregnancy resource centers' mission is not to hurt women but to offer them an alternative to abortion, if they are facing an unplanned pregnancy.

"This is the irony," Hartshorn said. "[Abortion providers] claim to be pro-choice. In fact, however, Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics provide no other options besides abortion."
 
"They may inform the person that those are the two other options but they don't provide for those options," Hartshorn said. "Our centers, on the other hand, actually provide help. Concrete help so that people who decide to continue their pregnancies can have the help that they need to do that."

The help at clinics associated with Heartbeat International and Care Net includes referring women to a range of resources, such as pre-natal heath care, social services, adoption, and programs that provide financial support and housing.
 
"The question I'm asking is what's really going on here?" Delahoyde said. "Here you have 30,000 volunteers around the country at the local level. We're saving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and we're working at the most effective level."
 
"We are about serving women in the community and we're all free of charge," Delahoyde said. "We're not charging people anything for this."

Hartshorn said that money rather than compassion for women may be the motivation behind pro-abortion activists' attacks on pregnancy resource centers.

"No woman really wants to have an abortion," Hartshorn said. "If that's true -- and there's a place that will really provide her alternatives in a practical way not to have to have an abortion -- of course she's not going to choose it."
 
"But that means that they're not going to make any money from her choice," Hartshorn said. "They make money if she chooses abortion. We make no money regardless of what she chooses. We have no financial interest in her choice, but they do."

Under the federal Title X Family Planning Program, abortion providers receive taxpayer funds for their family planning services, including Planned Parenthood, which receives $300 million a year of taxpayer money.

Life stories

Delahoyde said that the bottom line, however, isn't about funding but about the lives of women who are facing perhaps the most difficult decision.

"Here's what I'd say to [pro-abortion activists]," Delahoyde said. "Let the women tell their stories."

One of those stories was told last year during testimony in the Maryland State Legislature concerning a bill (HB 1146) urged by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood and sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Roger Manno.

Jennifer June VanSant testified about her experience of having an abortion and finding help through a pregnancy resource center during her second pregnancy.

The bill was defeated.

Her testimony, as excerpted below, reads: "I have come here today to share my story. My hope is that you will find it to be one of hope and that you will be able to recognize the challenges and benefits to my decisions. …

"Several years ago, I was addicted to drugs. I used daily and was not interested in any sort of rehabilitation or treatment. When I found myself pregnant I was upset but I only gave one option any thought. I was not willing to quit using and so I decided very matter of factly to have an abortion. At this point, I did not believe that it was possible to have a viable pregnancy. Using a Baltimore clinic, I scheduled an appointment one day and had the procedure the next. When I arrived I sat in a large waiting room filled with people and we all seemed to be called back rather rapidly. When it was my turn, I was asked a few questions and given Zanax.  The Zanax mixed with the other drugs I already had in my system.  The interaction of these drugs left me physically and emotionally numb.  I returned to the waiting room. 'Scary Movie 2' was being shown on the television in the waiting room.  In retrospect, I find the choice of this movie to be quite ironic. 
 
"The procedure lasted maybe 5 minutes. Looking back that seems like such a short period of time. In only 5 minutes, a person's entire lifetime was erased.  After that I left and it was done. At this point I was not conscious or sober enough to recognize the ramifications of my decision, nor did anyone at this clinic present them to me. In fact most of the people I encountered there seemed sad and unhappy. I really didn't think much about the decision I had made. Three days later I was using even more heavily, spiraled further into the cycle of addiction and chose not to deal with any of the physical and emotional results of my decisions. …

"Two years later I was still using and became pregnant again. This time I was so out of touch with reality that I was in complete denial for the beginning of the pregnancy. In the back of my mind I knew I was pregnant and didn't want to believe it! I thought I might kill myself. I was still heavily under the influence of drugs and addiction. I didn't know what to do. However, even in my compromised state I clearly knew the difference between the abortion and Bowie Crofton. I agreed to go to an appointment my mother arranged for me at a pregnancy clinic in Bowie, Maryland to see if my pregnancy was viable. I remember entering and feeling like everyone was looking at me. Now, I know that to be the paranoia of a severely addicted user. After greeting me, I waited for a few moments before a young lady my age walked me back to a room. It was nicely decorated, like a home. Emily was kind, considerate, and patient. While at this particular time, I was rude, disrespectful, and terrified. 
 
"She began by clearly informing me what would happen during my visit. I would have a pregnancy test, she and I would talk, and then I would be given a sonogram joined by my mother if I so wished. Emily and I talked about my circumstance, my boyfriend (who didn't know I was pregnant), my desire to terminate once again, and what life would look like if I chose to become a parent. I could not even grasp the idea. I recall asking Emily several questions.  The most important one to me was, 'How could she relate at all to my circumstance?'  In a gentle, non-forceful way, she shared with me her story about her adopted brother. I listened and took it all in. We did not talk about God; Emily knew at that point I was not interested in hearing about that. We did talk about abortion since I had already had one. No decisions were made.  Emily just listened. She asked questions that made me think, which made me really not like her because the last thing I wanted to do was really think about this decision."

"Then I met Nancy, the sonogram nurse. I was embarrassed by the size of my belly which proved me to be further along than I had expected! The moment came to view the fetus on the monitor. She asked if I wanted to look. I refused. A few moments later I could not deny the deep loud heartbeat as I turned my face to see. A tear streamed down my cheek. I turned my head, shocked that I could actually see any resemblance to a human being. Nancy spoke briefly to the health of the baby and what would be necessary to provide the optimum health for the child. Nancy told me about State funding because I did not have a job or insurance to pay for medical expenses. She emphasized the need for proper prenatal medical care and prenatal vitamins.
 
"As I got dressed, I cried tears of relief because these people gave me a sense that it was going to be all right. Even though I wasn't completely convinced, no final decisions had been made. The only immediate decision I made was a vow that from the moment I saw him I would stop using drugs while I was pregnant. The next few days were hard as I occasionally glanced at the sonogram photograph and it became real. Also, the sound of the heartbeat in my head echoed over and over again. Finally, after many sleepless nights and a lot of prayer, I decided to have my child. I also decided further along in my pregnancy that I was not ready to be a parent and would make an adoption plan for my son. …

"The next few months were hard, as was the first day and many following days after leaving the hospital. My strength was not my own. Through this experience my faith was renewed. God was faithful and His Love endured. Emily called me several times during my pregnancy and was always encouraging. I also received cards and notes from others at Bowie Crofton simply telling me that they were thinking of me and the baby and hoping we were well. It meant a lot to know that the Bowie Crofton team cared about me even after I had left their facility. …

"It is my pleasure to support the work of Bowie Crofton. All of the people who work there know my son by name and they know our story. I am honored to know this group of people and believe that what they do makes a positive difference in the lives of people facing an unplanned pregnancy. …

"My life today is far more superior than I could have ever imagined, which I believe is a direct result of the positive choice I made. Thanks to the accurate information given to me by the expert, caring staff in the form of my one-on-one pregnancy counseling, pregnancy test, licensed medical sonogram, information about prenatal care, and State funding all given to me free of charge -- my son and I are alive today. I am a living example of the power of what they do. And so is my son."

Contact: Penny Starr
Source: CNSNews. om
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com
Publish Date: February 11, 2009
Link to this article:
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