Are “pro-choice” policymakers really interested in women having choices? A new bill from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., shows they aren’t.
Their target? Life-affirming, community-based pregnancy resource centers.
Why target them? The abortion industry and its allies in Congress accuse pregnancy resource centers of being “fake clinics” that “deceive” pregnant women with disinformation and anti-abortion propaganda.
The proposed bill instructs the Federal Trade Commission to issue regulations prohibiting “deceptive or misleading” advertising about abortion services and to assess penalties (up to $100,000 or 50% of a pregnancy center’s annual revenue) for violations.
Have the co-sponsors actually been to one of these centers in the district or state they represent? Have they ever tried to talk to a woman about her experience receiving help and resources from a pregnancy center in her community?
Or are they happy to simply regurgitate abortion industry talking points that are long on accusations, but short on evidence to back up their claims?
These policymakers should take some time to learn about the lifesaving work pregnancy resource centers are doing in their communities. They would learn:
- Roughly 3,000 pregnancy resource centers offer help and hope to women across the country. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., bemoans, these centers far outnumber abortion clinics, on average by a 3-to-1 margin, but in some states, it’s as high as 11-to-1.
- Pregnancy resource centers provide services such as pregnancy tests; counseling on available options (including parenting, adoption, and abortion); ultrasounds; testing for and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases; classes on prenatal care and parenting; material assistance with things like diapers, baby clothes, and supplies; post-abortion support; medical referrals; assistance navigating additional assistance options; and more.
- Over a five-year period beginning in 2016, pregnancy resource centers are credited with saving an estimated 828,131 lives.
- In 2019 alone, the last year for which figures are available, pregnancy resource centers served almost 2 million people.
And yes, pregnancy centers will be honest with women about the serious physical and psychological effects of abortion. They will tell women that abortion pill reversal may be an option if a woman changes her mind right after ingesting one.
One thing pro-life and pro-abortion advocates perhaps can agree on? A woman’s experience at a Planned Parenthood clinic versus her experience at a pregnancy resource center will be vastly different. Who is it that actually offers women a choice again? It’s not Planned Parenthood.
Congressional Democrats’ latest assault comes at a time when these lifesaving centers are being attacked by pro-abortion extremists, from vandalism and threatening graffiti (“If abortion isn’t safe, neither are you”) to firebombings.
Rather than condemn these vile attacks, pro-abortion policymakers in Congress have opted to add fuel to the fire.
Now that the Supreme Court has corrected a grave historical error and overturned Roe v. Wade, the pro-life movement has new prospects to protect life in law. We also have new opportunities to build a culture of life.
One simple and effective way you can help? Find your nearest local pregnancy resource center and ask the staffers how you can help. For some, that means offering financial support. For others, it means giving the gift of your time to offer a helping hand. Maybe you’re able to do both.
Pregnancy care centers are on the front lines advancing the pro-life movement’s ultimate goal; namely, making abortion unnecessary and unthinkable. They deserve our support, not attacks fueled by America’s panicking abortion industry.
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