Reducing Abortions: The Untold Story of America's Pregnancy Resource Centers

[Michie]

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -

A groundbreaking report detailing the impact of thousands of pregnancy resource centers across America has been released by the Family Research Council.

(Click here to download the .PDF report.)

The report, entitled "A Passion to Serve: A Vision for Life" lays out in detail the manifold contributions of the nation's pregnancy resource centers to their communities, particularly to women, children, and families. The nature and scope of the pregnancy centers' mission is outlined in statistical summaries, case studies and personal testimonies. The report includes the accolades of several public leaders of diverse backgrounds celebrating the movement's unique contributions.

According to the report, pregnancy centers now assist an average of 5,500 Americans daily with sexuality-and pregnancy-related concerns. The report was introduced in the nation's capital Thursday by the Family Research Council as well as presidents from three national pregnancy center networks that represent more than 2,300 cross-affiliates in all 50 states.

"Thousands of pregnancy care centers and tens of thousands of pro-life counselors work day in and day out to meet the needs of both mother and baby," said Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey in the report. "Because of the work of these unsung heroes, mothers and babies are rescued from the tragedy of abortion."

Centers often offer health-related services such as STD testing and treatment, ultrasound, and prenatal education and care, as well and community programs including abstinence education, parenting classes, and fatherhood initiatives. But perhaps the centers' greatest contribution have been the thousands of lives saved by offering women in crisis pregnancies abortion alternatives, as well as information on the physical and psychological risks of abortion. Many centers also provide a rare source of support for women coping with post-abortion trauma.

"This report shines a light on the positive contributions of pregnancy centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and pregnancy help medical clinics," said Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D. "These faith-based community organizations, 40,000 volunteers strong, brighten a woman's future with the support she needs to bring new life into the world. This is one of the greatest volunteer service movements in the history of our country."

"We are pleased that this report spotlights ten Heartbeat International affiliates through stories that demonstrate sacrificial acts of love and service. These frontline lifesavers are strengthening their communities one heart at a time," said Hartshorn.

"Having been involved with this incredible movement for decades, I can tell you just what an historical moment the release of this report is in our history," said Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde. "Pregnancy centers have grown quickly and organically over the past four decades to become one of the most critical and reliable non-profit organizations in communities across America." Care Net supports 1,170 pregnancy centers across America.

"This report tells the untold story about the vast, beneficial impact of pregnancy centers, which are helping to improve maternal and child health and well being, saving taxpayer dollars, and partnering with hundreds of agencies to provide a web of support for women facing unplanned pregnancies," said Delahoyde.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said the report "lays out the untold story of centers that provide caring and compassionate services to at least 1.9 million people each year at little or no cost to the clients, in large part thanks to private charity and the high proportion of volunteers who work at the centers."

"As the national debate over health care continues to unfold, the work of the nation's more-than-2,300 nonprofit pregnancy resource centers in support of maternal and child health and well-being deserves to be affirmed and supported," said Perkins. "Pregnancy Resource Centers support a vision of true reproductive health and are model faith-based providers meeting a pressing national need."

(Clickhere to download the .PDF report.)

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09100111.html

 

[Fantine]

One thing that many people do not realize is that the government helps mothers, infants, and children as well, and that a lot of the good things pregnancy support centers do are accomplished through referrals to government agencies. WIC, for example.

" WIC aids 45 percent of infants, 25 percent of children up to age five and 37 percent of pregnant women in the U.S., according to the FNS.

That's an awful lot of moms, babies, and children, who would all be going to bed hungry if not for a government program. (I find that statistic shocking myself, because when I got married, at 21, we didn't think we were "mature" enough to have children until we had our degrees and owned our own home. I guess we were a Dave Mathews couple, sensible to the core.)

Isn't it wonderful that the pregnancy help centers can work together with government to help these mothers, infants, and children?

 

[benedictaoo]

That's absolutely right, we have had programs to assist unwed pregnant mothers for a long time. So what's the problem, you compassionate left? Why do we still need abortion to remain legal?

This has never been nor will it ever be an excuse to have an abortion. So the pro abortion rhetoric and apologists can stop claiming that we need to stop focusing on ending abortion laws, because we are in need of programs. We have had them forever almost. and it's not 1950... NO ONE even blinks an eye at a un wed pregnant teen ager. It's seen as normal these days to be one.

In fact, if you are un wed with children, you are in a better position then most married folks because you will get that day care grant, you will get that grant to go back to school, you will get food stamps, WIC, section 8, etc.

If you don't make it your life and keep having kids to keep or get more benefits, one can easily get on their feet and over come their circumstances.

Unfortunately the government just throws grants and programs at them and no one, especially ACORN, ever teaches them how to take advantage of it and make something productive of their lives. Instead they teach, especially ACORN, them to work the system, have more kids and stay on assistance until the next generations takes over.

And to think we have folks out there who advocate for more government programs... wow.

 

[Fantine]

That's absolutely right, we have had programs to assist unwed pregnant mothers for a long time. So what's the problem, you compassionate left? Why do we still need abortion to remain legal?

I don't think that that's the issue with most Catholic Democrats.

The issue is that the politicians who half-heartedly give lip service to being pro-life want to bring the country to rack and ruin in the process.

 

[TheOtherHockeyMom]

NO ONE even blinks an eye at a un wed pregnant teen ager. It's seen as normal these days to be one.

Maybe my case doesn't qualify as 'these days' but I was an unwed pregnant teen who was planning on placing the baby for adoption. Let me tell you, lots of folks 'blinked an eye'.

You know, it's great to see people working to end abortion, by laws and by providing support

Yet, sometimes I get a sense from some people that they feel that unwed pregnant women and teens aren't made to feel sufficiently ashamed. They bemoan the fact that these women seem to go about their normal lives without anyone batting an eye.

It's ironic to me, as one reason someone might have an abortion is because they don't want to deal with the shunning from their family, friends, church and community.

In my case, I was just past high school, but my Catholic high school had a policy to kick out any girl who became pregnant, whether or not she kept the baby or placed it for adoption. This seriously damaged the potential for college for many of these students. I know both people who were kicked out because of pregnancy and people who had an early abortion before anyone knew, and received their diploma with lots of handshakes and smiles. These people never got those disapproving stares that the ones who made the choice of life did.

I know, it's not a good think for people to be having pre-marital sex. But, once it happens, the ones you can tell are pregnant, for the most part, are the ones who chose life. Instead of making sure that they know you disapprove of their choice to have sex, why not show your support for their choice of life?

 

[Fantine]

Maybe my case doesn't qualify as 'these days' but I was an unwed pregnant teen who was planning on placing the baby for adoption. Let me tell you, lots of folks 'blinked an eye'.

Hugs to you, athansor, for all the pain you have suffered and all the sacrifices you have made.

The pregnancy resource centers are places where no one will be judged, and where they will receive compassionate care and help.

Unfortunately, they can't run interference for moms in the outside world (and neither can the rest of us.)

 

[benedictaoo]

I don't think that that's the issue with most Catholic Democrats.

The issue is that the politicians who half-heartedly give lip service to being pro-life want to bring the country to rack and ruin in the process.

So? That means you have to side with Planned Parenthood?

So I would love for you to explain to me where the logic is in that...

The answer to the right just giving half hearted lip service is not- let's go jump in bed with the left. They are the ones who advocate laws that kill babies, remember?

but when everything is right and left to a person, i guess that's the only thing that makes sense to them...

It's only when we forget about the right and left, because there is no such thing as the left and the right- they are all the same Fantine... Obama is Bush's 3rd term in case you have not yet caught on, we will have an effect.

We need to stop arguing with each other and putting everyone and everything into right and left categories and come together, it's the only way this country can brought back from the brink rack of ruins.

 

[benedictaoo]

Maybe my case doesn't qualify as 'these days' but I was an unwed pregnant teen who was planning on placing the baby for adoption. Let me tell you, lots of folks 'blinked an eye'.

You know, it's great to see people working to end abortion, by laws and by providing support

Yet, sometimes I get a sense from some people that they feel that unwed pregnant women and teens aren't made to feel sufficiently ashamed. They bemoan the fact that these women seem to go about their normal lives without anyone batting an eye.

It's ironic to me, as one reason someone might have an abortion is because they don't want to deal with the shunning from their family, friends, church and community.

In my case, I was just past high school, but my Catholic high school had a policy to kick out any girl who became pregnant, whether or not she kept the baby or placed it for adoption. This seriously damaged the potential for college for many of these students. I know both people who were kicked out because of pregnancy and people who had an early abortion before anyone knew, and received their diploma with lots of handshakes and smiles. These people never got those disapproving stares that the ones who made the choice of life did.

I know, it's not a good think for people to be having pre-marital sex. But, once it happens, the ones you can tell are pregnant, for the most part, are the ones who chose life. Instead of making sure that they know you disapprove of their choice to have sex, why not show your support for their choice of life?

Well it's not 1985 anymore, in 2009, NO ONE blinks an eye.

 

[TheOtherHockeyMom]

Well it's not 1985 anymore, in 2009, NO ONE blinks an eye.

If that's true, I'm glad to hear it. I suspect, though, that there are still many disapproving glances at Church and other places.
I wonder if my Catholic HS has gotten rid of their policy of expelling pregnant students, now that it's 2009 and all.

 

[benedictaoo]

I don't know what school policy is... but in 2009, pregnant girls are no big deal. In fact my nice who is 18 just had a baby 2 weeks ago, unmarried... trust me, no one thinks anything of it, including me. I disapprove of course of this girls life choices but her parents didn't die of embarrassment nor was she shipped off until she delivered.

My point is, this is no longer a reason to feel pressure to get an abortion. Trust me when I tell you, these young girls are not embarrassed or afraid to tell mom and dad.

On one hand I guess it's good because girls should have never been treated that way but on the other hand, it just goes to show how secularized we now are.

But these threads always confuse me because my point is that the reasons for abortion are no longer what they had been in the past...no way to care for the child, society is non accepting of unwed mothers, etc. really and truly, not the case with the exception of some extreme homes.

what confuses me is the ppl who want to debate me... why? what are you debating? that there is a need for abortion still?

i don't get it.

what exactly is being defended here? Or objected to?

 

[Fantine]

There is also no need to get an abortion because it is much, much easier to prevent pregnancy than it was in the past. (This is a statement of fact, not a moral judgment or recommendation.)

Most girls who go to pregnancy support centers are equipped with that teenage illusion of invulnerability combined with lack of information.

 

[benedictaoo]

Yeah, it called stop having sex when you are 15.

 

[TheOtherHockeyMom]

I don't know what school policy is... but in 2009, pregnant girls are no big deal. In fact my nice who is 18 just had a baby 2 weeks ago, unmarried... trust me, no one thinks anything of it, including me. I disapprove of course of this girls life choices but her parents didn't die of embarrassment nor was she shipped off until she delivered.

My point is, this is no longer a reason to feel pressure to get an abortion. Trust me when I tell you, these young girls are not embarrassed or afraid to tell mom and dad.

On one hand I guess it's good because girls should have never been treated that way but on the other hand, it just goes to show how secularized we now are.

But these threads always confuse me because my point is that the reasons for abortion are no longer what they had been in the past...no way to care for the child, society is non accepting of unwed mothers, etc. really and truly, not the case with the exception of some extreme homes.

what confuses me is the ppl who want to debate me... why? what are you debating? that there is a need for abortion still?

i don't get it.

what exactly is being defended here? Or objected to?

The only thing I am debating here is that we haven't gotten to the point where young girls who are pregnant are free of the shunning, disapproving stares and fear. I don't think we are there yet. I think many girls are still afraid to tell their parents (I was terrified....and the years that have passed haven't changed my parents attitudes).

If I'm wrong, and no girl is afraid to tell her parents, or shamed by her church community, or looked down upon by teachers, friends, relatives, parishioners, etc., then that is great news! However if schools still kick out pregnant girls, families and churches still shun them, and righteous people still point their fingers and say tsk, tsk, then they are contributing to the problem, not the solution.

So, that's what I'm debating, just that we've moved past the disapproval, not that we need to still have abortions performed. I dealt with the disapproval, yet I still consider the opportunity to have had my little one and place her with a loving family a blessing.

 

[benedictaoo]

The only thing I am debating here is that we haven't gotten to the point where young girls who are pregnant are free of the shunning, disapproving stares and fear. I don't think we are there yet. I think many girls are still afraid to tell their parents (I was terrified....and the years that have passed haven't changed my parents attitudes).

If I'm wrong, and no girl is afraid to tell her parents, or shamed by her church community, or looked down upon by teachers, friends, relatives, parishioners, etc., then that is great news! However if schools still kick out pregnant girls, families and churches still shun them, and righteous people still point their fingers and say tsk, tsk, then they are contributing to the problem, not the solution.

So, that's what I'm debating, just that we've moved past the disapproval, not that we need to still have abortions performed. I dealt with the disapproval, yet I still consider the opportunity to have had my little one and place her with a loving family a blessing.

I know of another girl who just had her boobs done.. she's 17 and her mother says she doesn't approve, however she took her and signed the consent... we're still trying to figure out who paid for it. It was $7,000.

I don't think these girls really are that afraid, least they wouldn't be doing the behavior, right? They can't be that scared or they wouldn't do it and get their boobs done so they can have em hang out.

But yes, if a girl finds herself pregnant, she should be able to discuss it rationally, however, i don't like what all this implies. The implications is... it's almost an acceptance of the behavior, which is the heart of this problem.

Girls need to know, don't have sex and don't make yourself look like you want to have sex and none of this, will be in issue...

 

[Fantine]

According to the NY Times:

Lost in the political rancor, however, is that teenagers throughout the country are both abstaining more, and, especially among older ones, more likely to use contraception when they do not abstain.

Right now abstinence education is being discussed in the Senate, and, by a narrow vote, the Senate Finance Committee favored abstinence education over comprehensive sex education.

But it is good to know that more young women will never find themselves in the position of being unmarried, underage, and pregnant, with all of the pain and heartbreak it brings, no matter what their ultimate decision is about the pregnancy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/education/18abstain.html

 

[benedictaoo]

But it is good to know that more young women will never find themselves in the position of being unmarried, underage, and pregnant, with all of the pain and heartbreak it brings, no matter what their ultimate decision is about the pregnancy.

why, because artificial b/c is all over the place??

call me naive but me thinks if we didn't have it all over the place then young ppl would not think it's of no consequence to go ahead and have sex.. I mean if the grown ups would stop putting it in their face all the time.

making B/C available all over the place for teens, it's the power of suggestion which is very strong.

The only solution is Christ and His commandments.

 

[Fantine]

why, because artificial b/c is all over the place??

call me naive but me thinks if we didn't have it all over the place then young ppl would not think it's of no consequence to go ahead and have sex.. I mean if the grown ups would stop putting it in their face all the time.

making B/C available all over the place for teens, it's the power of suggestion which is very strong.

The only solution is Christ and His commandments.

The NY Times article gave two reasons--that more teens are remaining abstinent and that the older teens who are having sex are practicing birth control.

Obviously you didn't pay attention to the first part of the quote.

Obviously birth control is more available. My daughter got condoms in a welcome pack at the off-campus college bookstore--some were even flavored (ugh!)

But I don't think that most kids look at the freebies as invitations to have sex for the first time. I think that the ones that need them use them, and the ones that don't laugh about them.

I think that birth control is here to stay in our society, and that parents should give their teens better reasons to abstain than merely avoiding pregnancy. Reasons that are based on commitment, relationship, etc.

 

[benedictaoo]

I don't really care what the NY times says.. they aren't the arbiter of anything.

There are two points... 1, we have programs for un wed pregnant mothers and have had them for a long time now. so not being able to care for the baby, is no longer a reason to abort.

the other point- we accept teeny boppers and young adults who get pregnant out of wed lock and even celebrate it... no one is shipped off in shame anymore, thus no longer an excuse to abort.

So maybe you can enlighten me on what the reason for abortion and needing it to remain a legal choice, is?

 

[Fantine]

The reason why it "needs" to be legal is because at the moment our Constitution does not have a Human Life Amendment and, in a diverse society such as ours, with many women experiencing unexpected pregnancies, there are some who choose to exercise that option.

Without a Constitutional amendment, it will continue to be a tug of war for generations to come, and that's a shame, because between 2001 and 2008 it seemed as if our country was being led by a clone of Simon Legris and Ghengis Khan, and some people called him 'pro-life.'

 

[benedictaoo]

The reason why it "needs" to be legal is because at the moment our Constitution does not have a Human Life Amendment and, in a diverse society such as ours, with many women experiencing unexpected pregnancies, there are some who choose to exercise that option.

Without a Constitutional amendment, it will continue to be a tug of war for generations to come, and that's a shame, because between 2001 and 2008 it seemed as if our country was being led by a clone of Simon Legris and Ghengis Khan, and some people called him 'pro-life.'

R. U. Serious? we need to kill babies because we have no human rights amendment... wow

I have read it all now...

Fantine, this may shock you but there is a never a 'need' to kill a baby for any reason.

I'm really sad that you don't understand that.