You may recall each spring UFI takes a group of college students to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. While in New York City, we divided the rather large group of students and visited two different Pregnancy Resource Centers – one in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn.  While our experiences were different, both groups also experienced the same thing – a caring staff offering needed information, help, and resources to pregnant women and couples.

However, that is not how many people choose to characterize these helpful centers – especially since the overturn of Roe.  These centers continue to be attacked – including experiencing death threats.  Alexis Goodman shares her experience going to the Pregnancy Resource Center in the Bronx, and how these centers are mischaracterized to the public.  It’s a great, informative read about a wonderful resource for women and their preborn babies.  Don’t be fooled by the pro-abortion rhetoric! Pregnancy Resource Centers need – and deserve – our help.

 

Standing in defense of life,

Wendy Wixom, President

United Families International

 

Providing a Choice to the Women of the Bronx

By Alexis Goodman

I cringed as my leather loafers sunk into yet another puddle on the sidewalk. The rivulets of water running down the streets disintegrated the garbage that littered the sidewalks into soggy and unrecognizable clumps.  The drizzling rain misted everything, but not so much as to enable a disguise for the singularity of my group’s presence on this street in the Bronx of New York City.

Men lined the sides of the street, their backs leaned against the storefront’s, some finding shelter under awnings, and others standing unflinchingly in the rain. They either talked in small groups or stared as we passed by.

I looked the other way, out at the road where cars honked and an old homeless man with a hunched back approached stalled cars in traffic, tapping on their windows to ask for spare change. Graffiti covered many of the roll-up doors we passed, and I didn’t bother to parse out the words sprawled across the walls.

I, and the other women with me, were in the Bronx to visit a local Pregnancy Resource Center called, EMC Pregnancy Centers. We hoped to learn more about their situation and what it was like being in “America’s Abortion Capital” but offering only pro-life services.

We entered a door beneath a sign reading, “Bronx Ink Tattoo.”  Climbing a set of dimly lit stairs, not aided by the deep red walls, we stopped short of the tattoo parlor and knocked on the EMC door.

A woman answered, her dark purple scrubs were partially hidden beneath a black zip up jacket. We all piled into the room, and I took my first look around. Squeaky wooden floors, sparse furnishings, and the couches had covers pulled taunt over them to preserve what little life they had left. The waiting room was tiny, made even smaller by the large TV facing away from the street. Playing from it was an anti-abortion video. The wind from outside racked against the windows which shook gently and the noises from the street below waited in the room like the proverbial elephant.

We all settled in, and another nurse joined us. Jackets were a common theme as she too wore a white one zipped up over her scrubs, and I couldn’t say I blamed either of them as it was rather chilly in the office.

Our visit was short but insightful, and I was deeply struck by the other world I had stepped into. I didn’t know what it was like to live in a city, let alone New York City. I didn’t know what it was like to live in the poorer districts of the Bronx. And I most certainly didn’t know what it was like to be young, poor, alone and terrifyingly pregnant with only Planned Parenthood or EMC Pregnancy Center staring me in the face.

There are two ways you can view a crisis pregnancy center (CPC). You could be thinking this:

“Pregnancy centers provide needed and worthy services to their communities. As organizations providing alternatives to abortion, they play a critical role. If it were not for the presence of pregnancy centers, pregnant women would have few places to turn if they were seeking services other than abortions to assist them in their pregnancies.”

Or you could be on this side of the fence:

“CPCs are a unique and disconcerting hybrid of anti-choice activism, religious propagandism, and pseudo-medical practice. Their modes of operation are fundamentally unethical and undermine the respect to human life that they claim to protect.”

Comments dripping with vitriol and disdain such as the one above are cloaked in academically-approved language so as to hide their bias when reporting on CPC’s workings. Every peer-reviewed article read for this article barely attempted to conceal their prejudices and homegrown accusations.

The Founder of Disdain for “CPCs”

The founder of Planned Parenthood and arch-nemesis to all pro-life establishments alike, deeply disliked pregnancy centers as well. It was her opinion that these centers promoted life at the expense of the poor.  Admirers of Margaret Sanger would have us stop there, but the fact is she was against the poor in general, as she is quoted to have said,

“Those vast, complex, interrelated organizations aiming to control and to diminish the spread of misery and destitution and all the menacing evils that spring out of this sinisterly fertile soil, are the surest sign that our civilization has bred, is breeding and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives, delinquents and dependents. My criticism, therefore, is not directed at the “failure” of philanthropy, but rather at its success.”

Therein lies the thesis for her disgust with pregnancy centers. The goodness of mankind is the greatest weakness of mankind. Such a dim outlook on life makes it a no-brainer as to why she went on to establish the leading clinic for aborting hundreds of thousands of babies each year.

The seeds of her animosity have been planted and grown into a belligerent and noxious weed. There are four main accusations thrown at CPCs by the pro-abortion movement.

1. They spread misinformation about abortion and deceive abortion-seeking women
2. Coerce helpless women into adopting their religious and ideological beliefs
3. Target underprivileged populations
4. Rob money from the state and federal government that is supposed to go to “reproductive health”

Charges such as these are a potent force that can work to dissuade any woman seeking help with her impending pregnancy, and it is important they are addressed and punctured. Either pregnancy resource centers are a force of good that provide confidence to women and empower them to carry on with their pregnancy or they are misleading women about the care they provide and are detrimental to society. So, which is it?

Accusation One: “They spread misinformation and are deceiving”

A strong accusation thrown at CPC’s is that they are disseminating false information about the abortion process and deceitfully luring abortion-seeking-women through their doors just to manipulate them into carrying on with the pregnancy. One article, barely able to withhold its disdain for CPC’s, stated, “…CPCs distract and divert pregnant women from the legitimate medical system to promote their own ideological ends.” To those who are pro-choice, CPCs are spreading misinformation such as: “inaccurate information about the risks of abortion and misinformation about contraceptives…They also frequently provide inaccurate information about fetal development and make unfounded claims about fetal pain to discourage abortion.”

The truth is, abortion has negative and adverse effects, no matter how you look at it. “Can’t Stay Silent” an initiative from Live Action, offers a compelling report outlining the many ways in which abortion can be harmful, not just to the baby, but the mother as well. It involves physical, emotional, and mental trauma. There are more and more studies that support their claims. The truth is contraceptives aren’t 100% effective. And the truth is, unborn babies begin to develop their pain receptors at seven weeks in the womb.

Much anger is directed towards CPC’s due to the simple fact that they do not provide abortive services, nor do they give out referrals to receive an abortion. To put the ludicrousness of this into analogy, it’s like going to a gym and being furious that the gym does not also provide liposuction. Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide diapers and other baby supplies, so why should a CPC provide abortion?

Accusation Two: “Coerce helpless women into adopting beliefs”

Do these centers really enforce religious beliefs and other agendas adverse to the health of women? Many think so. It’s not unusual to hear that, “Most CPCs have strong ties to evangelical Christian organizations and often further their goal of religious proselytism by promoting anti-abortion and anti-contraception propaganda…”

Certainly, some CPCs are religiously affiliated, or sometimes the association might not be but the workers within are. Is that really so wrong? Those who favor and promote abortion are also ideologically driven. Can doctors not be people of faith? Can social workers not practice religion? One study performed in Southern Louisiana observed women who visited CPCs and their experiences. When a few stated the CPC they attended was obviously a Christian site, they did not claim to feel pressured into adopting any belief. Instead, “Participants responded favorably to these religion-associated overtures, describing them as “really great” or saying “it felt good to me.””

Accusation Three: “Target underprivileged populations”

This allegation is particularly ironic considering that Planned Parenthood does precisely the same thing, but for more insidious reasons. As the site, “Protecting Black Life” shows, 79% of Planned Parenthoods surgical abortion facilities are within walking distance of black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Not only are the black and Hispanic communities in the minority, but they are also more likely to live high-poverty areas. Nevertheless, it is the CPCs that are accused of exploiting disenfranchised communities, as if it would make sense for them to go to high-income areas where their services aren’t as needed.

Accusation Four: “Rob money from the state and federal government”

Of the 2500-4000 CPCs in the United States, about half are affiliated and run by Care Net. This organization reported that just their clinics alone provide free pregnancy tests, guidance regarding the decision to carry to full-term, information about pregnancy options, fatherhood trainings and family education, and abortion recovery groups. Some of their clinics have licensed medical professionals who can perform free ultrasounds, test for STD’s, and consultations. Between the years 2008 and 2015, they saved 748, 784 lives, gave out more than 1.2 million free ultrasound scans, more than 3 million free pregnancy tests, and more than 1.1 million received parenting support and education. In 2018 alone, they saved communities over $62 million in health services, baby materials, education resources, and providing emotional and social support.

Speaking with one of the ultrasound tech’s that worked at the Bronx EMC Pregnancy Center, I asked her about the services they provide. She said they offer counseling, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, help receiving insurance, referrals to OBGYN’s in the area, finding housing, as well as necessities for children (diapers, blankets, bottles, etc.).

Do you really think these centers are robbing state and federal aid from more deserving reproductive health [abortion] clinics? Of the 50 states in the US, only thirteen provide funding to CPCs. Most of their funding comes from private sources and fundraising events.

Choice or No Choice?

Time and time again, if all else fails, opponents to pregnancy centers will allege that they are a “hybrid of anti-choice activism” and are “simulating autonomy by mimicking language of informed consent while seeking to influence decisions” as well as, “a grave threat to a woman’s right to choose.”

Those who claim to be “pro-choice” are only pro one choice: abortion. Having just one choice and no choice is the exact same thing, a delightful little paradox, and that is the world these commentators want. Is it really a choice if women are backed into a corner?

Aron Ralston is famous for his survival of a canyoneering accident wherein his right arm was caught in between a boulder and the canyon wall. After being trapped there for five days, and faced with no other options, he eventually amputated his own arm below the elbow to escape. This is the perilous situation a pro-abortion advocate would have women in. So desperate as to kill off their own offspring.

In their perfect world, there are no pregnancy clinics out there to assist women who don’t want to abort their children but still need help. Just asking for help, to them, is synonymous with asking for and needing an abortion.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers are needed

A great summarization of the problem at hand is this comment from legal expert Tom Brejcha, “They say pro-lifers don’t care about human beings after they are born. Of course, the pregnancy resource centers are trying to do precisely that and now they are trying to shut them down.”

The fourteen-year ultrasound tech veteran from the CPC in the Bronx said, “Once I was told what the actual mission was, as far as helping these women make an informed decision what to do regarding their pregnancy, then it definitely sounded like something that I wanted to be a part of, and now it feels like it’s more of a life purpose than just a job.”

Pregnancy Resource Centers (the preferred term) are crucial for the women who want to keep their baby, for the women who can’t decide if they want to keep their baby, and even for the ones who have already decided to not keep their baby. Everyone deserves choices.

When asked what the Bronx EMC needs most, the ultrasound tech said, “Donations, donations. That’s the biggest part, you know, we want to be able to do our jobs more effectively, but we can’t if we don’t have certain resources to be able to provide to these young ladies.” Entering into that neighborhood of the Bronx and seeing an entirely different world than I am accustomed to was crucial for me to see the vitalness of these centers.

Reach out to a nearby pregnancy center and see what materials they may need. Provide support and volunteer hours of your time. It’s imperative that pro-life advocates keep Pregnancy Resource Centers alive, as they are on the frontlines in helping women choose life over death for their children.

 

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Alexis Goodman was raised on a ranch in Dadeville, Missouri. She loves spending time with her husband, reading, hiking mountains, and learning new hobbies. She is currently a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, where she is working to get a degree in Political Science with an emphasis on American Government.