One of the most dishonest attacks on the pro-life movement is the charge that pro-life people care only about the baby in utero – not about the mothers or their delivered babies.
A new report, “Pregnancy Centers Stand the Test of Time,” by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List, puts the lie to that assertion.
In 2019, the latest year tabulated, about 2,700 pro-life pregnancy centers nationally served nearly two million people. The combined services had an estimated value of nearly $270 million.
This included distributing more than two million baby outfits and nearly 1.3 million packs of diapers to needy parents. At virtually no charge, clients receive counseling before and after births, various tests including ultrasounds, and information about alternatives such as maternity homes and adoption.
In addition, women who have had abortions are able to receive post-abortion counseling and assistance for medical complications.
“Pregnancy centers exist to serve and support mothers in the courageous decision to give their children life, even under the most difficult circumstances,” said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI). CARTOONS | AL GOODWYNVIEW CARTOON
The Institute was launched in 2011 by the Susan B. Anthony List, a national network of 900,000 pro-life Americans “dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.”
“This report calculates the impact of their mission of love in concrete terms,” Mr. Donovan said. “Thousands of centers around the country provide a multitude of free services for millions of women, as well as tens of thousands of men, saving communities millions in tax dollars annually. Eight in 10 people involved at pregnancy centers are volunteers, an extraordinary example of igniting points of light in the darkness.
“Thirty-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. All Americans benefit from these resources in communities everywhere across our national landscape.”
In addition, a growing number of centers offer sexual risk avoidance presentations to youth, STI/STD testing and treatment, childbirth classes and breastfeeding consultations.
To commemorate the 48th Annual March for Life (which was held virtually on January 29), the Institute released a new video “highlighting the extraordinary medical, education, support, and material service contributions of pro-life pregnancy centers across the United States.”