While abortion facilities often position themselves as the only resources for unplanned pregnancies, nearly three thousand pro-life pregnancy centers (PCs) across the country exist to provide compassionate, life-affirming options and support.
PCs were first founded in Toronto, California, and Hawaii several years before the Roe v. Wade decision. Since then, they have expanded across the country. Today, they outnumber abortion facilities at least four to one. Every day, these centers work tirelessly to offer options counseling, material resources, and medical care to women in need.
Unfortunately, PCs still labor under a cloud of misinformation, much of it purposely spread by pro-abortion lawmakers and activists. That misinformation is deceitful as many PCs provide invaluable services to thousands of women and their families annually and deserve support and protection.
PCs serve women and their families from the woman’s pregnancy through the baby’s toddler years. Local PCs offer women detailed guidance and support throughout their pregnancies, which includes referrals to local community services such as housing assistance or job skill training. There are some PCs that offer parenting classes and fatherhood programs, which are instrumental in empowering parents with the confidence they need for the parenthood journey. Some PCs can make referrals to adoption agencies if a woman wishes to place her child with another family. Many also offer post-abortion counseling to help women work through the trauma of a prior abortion.
All PCs provide in-person options counseling for women and several also offer counseling by phone twenty-four hours a day. During those calls, trained staff provide initial information about abortion risks as well as alternatives like adoption and parenting. These call lines also serve as a vital bridge, connecting women with local PC’s and additional support services in their community.
Since a lack of material resources is one reason women choose to have an abortion, PCs work to fill this need. According to a recent study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, PCs give away millions of dollars in necessities to women each year, including diapers, car seats, and baby clothing. PCs also provide medical referrals and help women find other community resources, ranging from rent to food stamps. Some also have connections to maternity homes, which offer women a safe place to live for up to a year after the child’s birth. These maternity homes can also help women achieve their educational and employment goals, thus giving them tools for success after leaving the program.
Some PCs also provide basic medical care. Obria, which operates a chain of clinics located mainly on the West Coast, exists to offer the medical treatments that abortion clinics claim to provide. Thus, they staff doctors and administer women’s health checkups as well as prenatal and postpartum visits. Hundreds of other medical professionals are either employed or volunteer at PCs to read ultrasounds and offer basic medical care such as the over 700,000 free pregnancy tests provided in 2024. Furthermore, over 80% of PCs provide ultrasounds. Many also offer testing or even treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Most importantly, some PCs supply women with lifesaving abortion pill reversal treatments (APR). All this medical care is available free or at a low cost so that every woman can afford good treatment.
Throughout their history and especially since the overruling of Roe in Dobbs, PCs have faced numerous attacks from the pro-abortion front. Recently, many PCs have faced violent threats from pro-abortion activists. Often, these threats are followed by graffiti, vandalism, and arson. PCs must then spend their limited funds on repairs and security, rather than on community services. The pro-abortion extremists have also attempted to silence PCs through inaccurate or fabricated information. For instance, after the Dobbs leak, several members of Congress wrote to an online search engine asking it to stop advertising PCs. According to this letter, PCs are “fake clinics” that pose as abortion clinics to trick women into not having abortions. Similarly, many state websites contain warnings about PCs while advertising for abortion services. California’s attorney general has even sued PCs for advertising APR, claiming that it misleads and endangers women.
Most recently, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin attacked a PC’s free speech by requiring it to provide lists of confidential information, including donor names ranging from large financial contributors to givers at church baby-bottle campaigns. Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court will shortly hear that case, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin. Despite all these threats, PCs quietly continue their work to provide hope to women and a future to their children.
For further information, see our partners’ work at CareNet, Heartbeat International, and Lifeline:
CareNet: https://care-net.org/what-is-a-pregnancy-center/ and https://pregnancydecisionline.org/find-a-pregnancy-center/
Heartbeat International: https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/ and https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/worldwide-directory
Lifeline: https://lifelinechild.org/article/pro-life-means-every-life/
