CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2020 \/ 10:00 am (CNA).- A new report aims to measure the impact of pro-life pregnancy centers on women\u2019s health care in the U.S., offering detail on the nearly 2 million women served last year.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, reported on Wednesday that more than 2,700 pro-life pregnancy centers around the U.S. served nearly two million people in 2019, providing nearly $270 million in services.
These centers included both brick-and-mortar establishments, but also mobile medical centers, serving both expectant mothers and post-abortive women, with the vast majority of facilities offering parental education, material assistance for mothers, and ultrasound tests.
\u201cPregnancy centers exist to serve and support mothers in the courageous decision to give their children life, even under the most difficult circumstances,\u201d Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, stated on Wednesday. \u201cThis report calculates the impact of their mission of love in concrete terms.\u201d
The report calculated that pregnancy centers offered around 732,000 pregnancy tests in 2019, and more than 486,000 free ultrasounds. They also provided women nearly 1.3 million packs of diapers and more than two million baby outfits.
In addition, they offered more than 291,000 clients parenting and prenatal education, and more than 21,000 clients post-abortive support.
Pro-life pregnancy centers have come under fire from pro-abortion groups in recent years, with groups like Planned Parenthood claiming that they use deceitful tactics to get women in the door who are considering abortion and then do not offer them information on abortion as an option.
In California, the state passed a law in 2015 that required pro-life pregnancy centers to offer women information about abortion and where they could obtain one. The centers, represented by the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), brought a lawsuit against the state and its then-attorney general Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
The Supreme Court in 2017 ruled that the state\u2019s requirement likely violated the free speech rights of pregnancy centers, and blocked the law from going into effect while lower courts reconsidered the case.
Pro-life groups warn that women would experience a steep decline in available health care centers if they had to close clinics; they also say that federally-funded health clinics around the U.S. would not be able to replace them amid a surge in women clients.
\u201cThey provide invaluable education as well as physical, medical, emotional and financial support,\u201d said Anne O\u2019Connor, NIFLA\u2019s vice president for legal affairs. \u201cPregnancy centers provide these services at no cost, saving communities across the nation millions in tax dollars annually.\u201d
Alison, a woman from Portland, Maine, whose testimony is in the report, said she was a post-abortive mother who was pregnant with her second child. She reached out to a pregnancy center ABBA, and said that she \u201cstarted to grow a strength inside of me that wasn\u2019t there before. I decided I didn\u2019t need anyone else\u2019s approval,\u201d and that she was \u201ctruly amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of support I was given.\u201d
\u201cThese women worked so hard and spent so much time researching options for me that I didn\u2019t even know existed. They were there to support and guide me when no one else was, and I\u2019m not sure I could ever express how much that means to me,\u201d she said.
CLI says it compiled the report by surveying pregnancy centers from around the country, but included only those affiliated with a major network\u2014Care Net, Heartbeat International, or the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA)\u2014or those abiding by national standards of care and competence.
To quantify the services offered, the report used cost estimates for services and wages calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for social workers, sonographers, and registered nurses.
Pro-life leaders have hailed the increase of ultrasound machines in recent years as a concrete way for mothers to see their child. Groups such as the Knights of Columbus have worked to supply pregnancy centers around the U.S. with more than 1,000 ultrasound machines\u2014and nearly eight-in-centers surveyed by CLI offer ultrasounds.
\u201cThirty-five years have now passed since the introduction of life-revealing and life-changing ultrasounds into pregnancy centers, and their medicalization continues to grow and thrive,\u201d Donovan said.
According to the report, 15% of the centers received government funding. For Planned Parenthood in its 2018-19 annual report, it reported that the nearly $617 million its affiliates received in government funding made up 37% of the overall revenue of both its national organization and affiliates.
Some centers also provide testing for sexually-transmitted diseases and infections (STD\/STI).
\u201cNational health surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the American STD epidemic continues to be a significant public health challenge,\u201d the report stated, adding that \u201cundiagnosed STDs cause infertility in more than 20,000 women each year.\u201d
\u201cMedical pregnancy centers or clinics provide STI\/STD testing and treatment to women, and at some locations to men, in direct response to this public health crisis,\u201d it stated. \u201cAt pregnancy centers where STI\/STD testing and treatment are not available, referrals for screening\/testing and treatment are routinely made.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2020 \/ 10:00 am (CNA).- A new report aims to measure the impact of pro-life pregnancy centers on women\u2019s health care in the U.S., offering detail on the nearly 2 million women served last year.
\nThe Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, reported on Wednesday that more than 2,700 pro-life pregnancy centers around the U.S. served nearly two million people in 2019, providing nearly $270 million in services.
\nThese centers included both brick-and-mortar establishments, but also mobile medical centers, serving both expectant mothers and post-abortive women, with the vast majority of facilities offering parental education, material assistance for mothers, and ultrasound tests.
\n\u201cPregnancy centers exist to serve and support mothers in the courageous decision to give their children life, even under the most difficult circumstances,\u201d Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, stated on Wednesday. \u201cThis report calc..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n