On a sunny morning in October, I walk into the Pregnancy Resource Center on East 4th Street, in the shadows of Presbyterian Hospital, to take a pregnancy test. Inside, the office is quiet — by design. A sign in the lobby asks for silence and forbids conversation on cell phones or with other women waiting to be seen.
Before coming here, I had checked the center’s website, which advertises free pregnancy tests and notes that the facility does not perform abortions or refer women to abortion providers. It also says that clients will “receive accurate information about pregnancy, fetal development, lifestyle issues and related concerns.”
From all appearances, the center looks like a perfectly safe, medically credible office where a pregnant woman can come and learn about all of her options regarding an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. CL wanted to find out if this was the case.
“I have a 10:30 appointment,” I tell the receptionist, who sits behind a sliding-glass window. Smiling, she asks me to fill out a form that looks like what you’d get at any doctor’s office. There’s one key difference: Near the top, just beneath name and address, is a space marked “religious preference.” Major red flag.
The Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte is one of 122 so-called crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina. In October, the N.C. chapter of the reproductive-rights organization NARAL Pro-Choice America released a report on 66 of these centers, which the group investigated from October 2010 to July 2011. The findings were staggering: Two-thirds of the centers provide false or misleading information, 92 percent have no on-site medical staff, and more than half are affiliated with Christian groups and offer women unsolicited religious advice.
What’s more, according to the NARAL report, the number of crisis pregnancy centers in N.C. has nearly doubled since 2006 (by contrast, there are only nine Planned Parenthood facilities in the state). Most alarmingly, funding for many of the centers comes from taxpayer dollars at a time when the N.C. General Assembly has cut funds for groups like Planned Parenthood, where the average patient goes to seek neither an abortion nor religious advice, but to receive sound health care.
NARAL’s findings are particularly troublesome when you also consider the number of pregnant women in North Carolina in need of accurate information and safe medical assistance. According to the most recent figures from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research organization, 193,500 women in North Carolina became pregnant in 2008. Of those pregnancies, 33,140 — or 19 percent — ended in abortion. That same year, there were only 31 abortion providers in the state.
The proliferation of crisis pregnancy centers that disseminate false information, combined with the number of pregnant women in North Carolina each year, represents “a threat to public health,” according to NARAL. “Anyone seeking health care services should receive comprehensive, unbiased and medically accurate information,” the report states. “Women facing unintended pregnancies deserve no less.”
After filling out the form at the Pregnancy Resource Center, I return it to the receptionist. The center is filled with motherly and grandmotherly looking women — no name tags, no medical licenses on the walls. Twenty minutes pass before a woman calls my name and takes me into an area off to the left of the lobby. We enter what resembles an examination room in a doctor’s office, complete with an examination table. Next to the door is what looks like a surgical stand on top of which are a plastic cup, paper towel, and a covered dish-like item. The woman asks what she can do for me and I tell her I want to take a pregnancy test because I’ve missed my period. She asks if I’d taken a home pregnancy test and I say no.
The woman nods, hands me the plastic cup and then leads me to a bathroom. After I return with a urine sample, the woman tells me to place the cup on the tray. Then she leads me to another room to wait for my results. The results are not much different from what you’d get in an over-the-counter home-pregnancy test. The accuracy of urine-only tests depends on the level of hGC, or the pregnancy hormone, in a woman’s body. According to Womenshealth.gov, the earlier in the morning a test is taken, the more accurate the reading.
Another 10 minutes pass as I wait on a cushiony soft chair, a warm blast of heat keeping me comfortable. Presently, a counselor walks in, sits across from me and asks several questions. She wants to know what kind of work I do, how long I’ve been in Charlotte, who I live with, if I have family in the city, and finally, she wants to know about my missed period.
“Tell me about your cycle,” she says. “Is it usually every month, like clockwork? Had you been on any birth control recently? Any symptoms that come along with pregnancy? Any disease, health concerns that might affect your cycle or a pregnancy? Have you been pregnant before?”
I answer the questions, telling her my cycle is normal, I haven’t been on birth control, and I have a clean bill of health.
Then comes the question you wouldn’t expect from a health-care provider: “What about faith and religion? Does that play a role in your life at all?”
That’s the same question Alexandria (not her real name) faced four years ago when she went to the Pregnancy Resource Center — which, according to its website, has been in business since 1982. The 34-year-old Bank of America employee had taken a home pregnancy test that came out positive. Because she wasn’t sure if it was accurate, Alexandra did a Google search for pregnancy testing centers in Charlotte. The Pregnancy Resource Center popped up near the top of her screen.
Alexandria says she assumed she was going to a Planned Parenthood-type facility.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she says. “While I waited, they gave me a pamphlet to read over about the services they provided and what to do if I was pregnant.”
As it turns out, Alexandria was pregnant. When two women at the center asked what she planned to do, Alexandria told them she would keep the baby. “They said, ‘That’s a good choice. God will forgive you,'” Alexandria recalls.
When results of her test confirmed her pregnancy, Alexandria says she cried. “Then they prayed over me and said I’d be fine and they said the next time I have sex, they hoped that I was married.”
The prayer, Alexandria says, made her feel pressured and guilty. “I felt like I’d done a bad thing by having sex,” she says. Adding to the emotional distress was the video they showed her of fetuses in different stages of development.
Scare tactics are where crisis pregnancy centers become particularly problematic, says Carey Pope, executive director of the foundation that conducted NARAL’s investigation.
“If a group wants to promote an anti-choice or a pro-life choice agenda, that’s fine, as long as they are up front with women about it,” Pope says. “What we found in our investigation is that the majority of crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina are not up front about that agenda.”
Not only that, but Pope says some of the centers that her group investigated flagrantly lie to women in ways that could put their health at risk. “In a state that has the ninth-highest AIDS rate in the country,” Pope says, “why would you tell someone that condoms are not effective?”
Other inaccurate information the NARAL report found include:
• 26 percent of the centers claim that abortion leads to breast cancer.
• 48 percent claim that none of the common methods of birth control effectively prevent pregnancy.
• 56 percent say abortion most often results in “post abortion stress.”
• 24 percent suggest women should avoid abortion due to the high possibility of miscarriage.
“Telling women that the possibility for a miscarriage is really high — that sort of puts a false possibility in their head that, ‘I don’t need to get an abortion because this pregnancy could end on its own,'” Pope says. “That really concerned us. They’re not medical clinics.”
Medical clinics and Planned Parenthood facilities are regulated by the state and held to high standards. But there’s no state oversight of crisis pregnancy centers, even though 60 of the 122 centers get taxpayer funding. According to the NARAL report, North Carolina’s new “choose life” license plates, which were approved by the GOP-controlled General Assembly at the close of the last legislative session, will fund the centers to the tune of $15 out of every $25 the state charges for the plates.
Calls to the Charlotte-based Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, the umbrella organization for crisis pregnancy centers, were not returned by press time.
After my visit to the Pregnancy Resource Center, I call the facility back to speak with executive director Erin Forsythe about my experience there. Forsythe doesn’t return my calls, but the center’s director, Mary Fleischman, eventually does. She tells me the Charlotte facility is not deceptive in its practices. “We’re very up front with people that we don’t perform abortions, nor do we refer for abortions,” she says. “We would, for a client who has chosen to carry, we would offer parenting classes with some material needs to go along with those.”
When I ask about medical procedures, Fleischman says the center does “basic medical things,” like dating a pregnancy and performing ultrasounds. As for professional medical staff, “We have volunteer doctors who give their time to the center. Everything we do at the center is done with a standing doctor’s order, and we have a nurse who is on staff at all times,” she says. But no staff doctor? “Not a doctor in the building.”
I ask for the names of volunteer doctors, but for that information Fleischman refers me to Care Net, the largest network of crisis pregnancy centers in North America. By press time, Care Net had not returned my calls.
According to the NARAL report, 94 percent of crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina do not have professional medical staffs, but only 20 percent provide non-medical facility disclosure forms. I did not receive such a form at the Pregnancy Resource Center.
What’s more, the information crisis pregnancy centers gather is not private. The Pregnancy Resource Center couches this fact in legal-sounding jargon, stating on its website: “Client information is only disclosed by law and when necessary to protect the client or others against imminent harm.” Not true, says Pope. Because the centers are not actual medical facilities, they are not bound by the Health Information Privacy Act, or HIPPA laws.
For instance, what the Pregnancy Resource Center considers “imminent danger” may be very different from what’s in HIPPA privacy rules. According to HIPPA, patient information may be released only if he or she presents a serious danger to self or others, and that does not include someone who is pregnant. For a crisis pregnancy center, “imminent harm” could very well mean a young girl who happens to be pregnant.
“That is a big concern, because a woman in a small town could go to a crisis pregnancy center and they could call her parents or call her partner and that presents a huge issue,” Pope says.
Another fact that’s obscured on crisis pregnancy centers’ websites and inside the buildings is the Christian agenda.
When directly asked, Fleischman admits the Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte is a Christian organization, although the website characterizes it as “a non-profit, non-denominational, non-political organization that is committed to providing compassion, information and support to anyone facing the challenge of an unintended pregnancy.”
“It is a part of our process to share faith to the extent that a client wants to talk about her faith,” Fleischman says.
The website also notes that the center “does not perform abortions or arrange adoptions, so we have no financial interest in your decision.” This seems to infer that organizations such as Planned Parenthood do have a financial interest. And that’s not so.
Jessica Laurenz, director of public health policy for Planned Parenthood health system, says money made by the organization goes back into health services, which includes comprehensive birth control, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, breast exams, gynecological services and abortions.
“Our position is, a woman who comes into a Planned Parenthood will receive information about all of her options — nonjudgmental, compassionate information about all of her options,” says Laurenz. “We do whatever we can to help her make the choice that’s right for her.”
Back at the Pregnancy Resource Center, my counselor is directing me to the choice that’s right for the Pregnancy Resource Center. She tells me the options — carry, abort or adopt. But she goes further, promoting her religious beliefs. “Everything we do here is free and we’re glad to do it, but we do come from a Christian perspective,” she says. “We want to give you information. We’re not here to twist your arm or anything, just to let you know that this is your decision. Obviously, we care very much about the unborn child, but we also care about you.”
Pope sees it differently.
“If [the facility] is advertising in North Carolina as a pregnancy resource center,” Pope says, “then chances are, they have some sort of ideological agenda.” And that agenda, she adds, puts the health of pregnant women at risk.
Related Stories
CL goes undercover in a Charlotte ‘crisis pregnancy center’
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2011.
Wow. Nice “article” of completely biased journalism. The author went in with an agenda, saw what she wanted to see, and supported it with “facts” from another biased organization. What does she fear? The truth?
@Responsible adult What is the truth?
I am kind of bothered by the overall false “informative” tone of your piece.
Your implied linking of your experience at the PRC of Charlotte to the NARAL report the way you did is misleading. It would’ve been better to simply write an article about the released findings. Journalistically, The “undercover” adage was sensational move. Did you know that The PRC of Charlotte spoke with NARAL to make sure that if they were one of the centers misrepresenting – how they could improve to be more up front and accurate?…. They were not one of the centers.
Did you know that not one dollar for the PRC of Charlotte comes from taxpayer dollars. It comes for individuals and organization who support the women the center serves?
Did you know that PRC Charlotte holds Care Net affiliation to ensure they’re operating under a national standard of ethics and integrity. And that even though Care Net might not have called you back, ALL of that information is viewable on their Web site.
In terms of your statistics – 193,500 women in NC got pregnant. Did you know, that almost 10,000 of them aborted in Charlotte. The PRC of Charlotte sees about 3,000 clients per year and over 60% of those clients are not seeking an abortion, but are simply in need of support services like a verification of pregnancy so that they can apply for Medicaid. Did you know that PRC is the ONLY place in the county that provides this for FREE?
Lastly, Word of mouth is the center’s top response by a landslide when people are asked how they heard about the PRC. So a lot of “someones” aren’t having the experience you had. Were you lied to? Did anyone tell you you were at a medical doctor’s office? Were you pressured to do anything against your will? Was any information you received inaccurate/outdated/misleading? Did you look for that woman…or, many WOMEN who leave the PRC encouraged, supported, valued, and hopeful?
You talked to a representative at Planned Parenthood, but have you gone “undercover” at an abortion clinic to tell that ‘secret’ story – or are you okay with taking a representative’s word for it?
Abortion leads to breast cancer? Birth control is ineffective? Abortion results in post-abortion stress? With “information” like this being slung around and called “help”, we need a lot more undercover reporters, with an agenda, to keep doing what they do best, which is exposing nonsense like this. Why are these operations receiving tax dollars to “pray over” clients?
Just when I thought Creative Loafing could sink no further, it has shocked even me. “Papa Don’t Preach” (not really sure what that means) is the worst garbage you have ever scraped out of the bottom of the outhouse.
“CL goes undercover?” Why didn’t you just call and ask? Why did you waste precious time and resources that could have helped a real woman in a crisis pregnancy?
Your “reporter” (term used lightly) did the same thing she does with her disgusting paperbacks – she decided what the story line was and then built a yarn of innuendo, biased quotes, half-truths and opinions to leave the readers (few though there may be) with the idea that the premise was proven.
This sloppy job of reporting includes multiple instances of copy and paste directly from the NARAL website. There are so many cases of generalities in the article that leave the reader with the impression that all these scurrilous statements by NARAL relate to the Pregnancy Resource Center in Charlotte. NARAL hates crisis pregnancy centers makes unsubstantiated claims about them to get more women on their backs and feet in the stirrups. Calling crisis pregnancy centers “anti-choice” is just disgusting.
Then there are references to the “safe” counseling a woman gets at Planned Parenthood and that “fact” that Planned Parenthood has no financing stake in counseling a woman to have an abortion. What rock has this “reporter” been hiding under? Planned Parenthood’s abortion nightmare is big business and threatening to a woman’s future physical and mental well-being.
I’m not sure how the Pregnancy Resource Center could be more upfront about what it does. It is a ministry. It is staffed by dozens of Christian volunteers, health professionals and veteran pregnancy resource personnel. The center offers to pray for a caller. The center offers biblical wisdom about making decisions. The center counsels 3,000 clients a year and has its sights set on 9,000 because the need is great and women risk making a poor decision for themselves and for the life they are carrying (I’m sure that is a arguing point for you and your reporter too).
The Pregnancy Resource Center isn’t a male-on-male chat room, an uptown cabaret, an escort service or body scrub spa, the sponsors that fill your tabloid. We can only hope time and technology will do to CL what they have done to the major daily in Charlotte, make you a relic in the bottom of the bird cage of history. It is just sad that there are women who will pick up your rag, read this article and make a poor decision based on what they read. These are the women “at risk” that you purport to care about. Last graph talks about an “ideological agenda.” This article spells out yours.
This was a totally biased article! All of this could have been found out by simply visiting their website.
Having been able to refer countless women to this same center for free ultrasounds (which other local abortion clinics will do for $85+), free pregnancy tests, and more, I have only found women who were grateful for the free services, paid for by private donations and not tax dollars! I have never had a woman go willingly to The Pregnancy Resource Center and have regrets about going there. The website is quite clear about their motivations and services, if you bother to do a little preemptive research before jumping to conclusions.
Seriously…this article is simply laughable and juvenile at best!
Below is the text of an email I sent to Ms. Hodges. I’m posting it here as well so hopefully the editors at CL will take notice considering Ms. Hodges is listed as the “News Reporter” with CL.
I just finished reading your article, “Papa Don’t Preach,” and I wanted to send along my comments. Full disclosure, I am a Republican, but I do enjoy reading CL even if I don’t always agree with the content. Although I do agree with some of the points you raise in your article like that these centers shouldn’t receive taxpayer funding and how the PRC in Charlotte doesn’t explicitly state their religious affiliation on their website, you lost credibility with me by failing to be objective. I’m not a journalist but it was my understanding journalists presented the facts and allowed the readers to draw their own conclusions? I could be wrong, but it seemed to me you had an agenda in writing the piece, why not just state your position from the beginning without hiding behind the pretense of objectivity?
– Was it really necessary to go undercover for this assignment? It seems like you could have received the same information by making a few phone calls.
– “Alexandria” is essentially an unnamed, off the record, source. I don’t doubt she exists, but hers is only one story that seems to be in the article to confirm your own bias. How did you come across her and why not seek out other opinions of women who have patronized the center? Did Alexandria refuse consent to be prayed with or to watch the fetus video? You make it seem as if she had no choice in either. You didn’t cite any forcible prayer in your own story.
– NARAL, aka Natl Assoc. for Repeal of Abortion Laws, aka Natl Abortion Rights Action League, do they not have an agenda of their own contrary to that of the “crisis pregnancy centers” your piece focuses on? Would their own bias not be relevant to your readers? Are they not one of the largest lobbying organizations for abortions in the country?
– Is there a direct connection between the results of the NARAL investigation you cite and this specific center in Charlotte? What specific inaccurate information did you receive upon your visit to the center in Charlotte? Is this specific center funded by taxpayer dollars or not? If none of the findings apply to this specific center, why not point this out to your readers?
– You state the information collected is not protected by HIPPA yet you failed to identify any instances of actual disclosure by any pregnancy center. Have there been such disclosures? If so, has there been legal action by patients whose privacy has been violated? How are the doctors and nurses who work at these centers allowed to keep their licenses to practice medicine if they knowingly violate patient privacy?
– You state Planned Parenthood does not have a financial interest in the decision to adopt or abort. But then in the next paragraph you state PP reinvests the money it makes back into health services, including abortions. If PP does not make money by providing abortions then how do they make money? If abortions don’t cost patients, who does pay for them? That seems to me to be an issue of fact, easily resolved, without taking sides for or against abortion or taxpayer funding of PP. And doesn’t PP received taxpayer funds itself much like some of the crisis pregnancy centers?
– Your final paragraph quotes Pope claiming an “ideological agenda” on the part of crisis pregnancy centers. Isn’t it fair to say PP and NARAL have their own “ideological agendas?” Pope adds that that “agenda” puts the health of pregnant women at risk. Do abortions not also pose certain health risks to pregnant women?
This article made my stomach churn in disbelief. I have friends who have been clients of the center and were so relieved that someone would take the time to LISTEN to them, offer them a plethora of helpful resources, pray with and for them, and not judge them based on the decision they chose.
If they were so “anti-choice” which is ridiculous, then they would not offer post abortion counseling for women that are suffering from post abortion trauma. This center is a blessing in the heart of Charlotte.
Thousands of babies have been saved and given a chance at life as a result of PRC’s love and heart to help women and girls in crisis pregnancy situations. Thousands of mothers have been saved from living a life of regret after having killed their precious baby. Even more, thousands of father’s have been strengthened and cultivated to be responsible and mature father’s as a result of attending the classes they offer for the men. My prayer is that God will bless them exceedingly and abundantly to help thousands more.
I cannot believe the insanity of this article. This is a Christian Ministry. First Amendment Rights allows for any person to speak and do what they need to do under their religious values and beliefs. I happen to know this center and I know they love doing God’s work. If this did not serve your needs, you needed to go somewhere else. This center and many other ministries have stopped abortion and the brutality of butchering women on unplanned pregnancy. The idea that you did not applaud even a small effort for their work and supported planned parent hood who honors abortions says your ethical and moral values needs to be re-evaluated. You are calling the good evil and the evil good definitely speaks to why Pregnancy Center will continue to be blessed by God to do their work. Next time you go on a spy mission, try white house, they have plenty of Adventure for girls with nothing to do…..This work is part of the Historical work that Jesus Christ, savior of this world continues to do to help many souls. If you saw that they needed more resources then by all means, you should have gone ahead and conducted a fund raising to bring in resources. This is what truly good people do.
Dr. Elizabeth
You can also find Ms. Hodges at her blog, http://www.cherishodges.blogspot.com/
I’m going to post my comment there as well and see if I’m able to elicit a response since she doesn’t appear to engage with the commenters at CL-CLT.
The PRC is one of the most loving places providing services for women in Charlotte. The volunteers and staff there are fired up about the Gospel of Christ and saving babies. Of course you are going to receive prayer there and encouragement. No one can cast condemnation upon you unless you have already cast judgment upon oneself. That is in the word of God (THE BIBLE). Should the journalist have been a believer in the first place they would know the word of God and been able to discern (feel) the love that abounds in the PRC. Those ladies, want to reach out to women and give them options to continue to walk away from painful backgrounds and love themselves as God loves them.
Many times in today’s society, women of all ages and backgrounds feel that giving up their bodies shows their worth to men, instead of knowing their worth before they lay down. Now, I am not saying that all women that are serviced at the resource center come from broken backgrounds but there are some and those are the ladies that need uplifting and encouragement so they can continue on and have a loving relationship with their unborn child. Too many times society looks down on a mother that is unwed. They feel that they will be one more charity case or welfare baby momma. The PRC tells young and older women, that she is more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus and that she will be more than her current circumstance and she can still accomplish dreams.
Prayer does not come without repentance. We all know that the Gospel upholds marriage and values of family togetherness (Genesis 2:22-24, Proverbs 5:15-19, Proverbs 12:4 Proverbs 18:22, Proverbs 20:6-7, I Corinthians 7:1-16, Hebrews 13:4-7 and finally Mark 10:6-9). Who in their right minds want to struggle feeding children in a single parent household? The Bible states, that marriage the bringing together of a man and a woman is honored in Gods sight and blessed. In today’s world, we have become way to comfortable with sin and the corruptible acceptance of anything goes. Should a person want to continue down a path of unrighteousness? If so that is fine, but do not condemn a center that is preaching the Gospel of Christ and loving children that are unborn to give them a fighting chance to live life and have it more abundantly.
It burns me up that some devil worshiping spirit can go up in that place (PRC) and writes such blasphemy about the services that are going. This is what the world is coming to however, it was written in the Bible that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that HE is God on His second coming. No matter how people want to live their lives the truth of the Gospel will come to life. If some want to water-down the word of God that is on them but that does not make the Bible untrue nor spreading the word wrong.
I pray for each and everyone that had anything to do with this article being published as well as the idea of the conception to go into the center and try to destroy what God has put together. Do you idiot, not know that what God creates no devil in hell can break apart! I laugh at your ignorance and I know that God shall prevail over this situation. May God continue to bless and protect the ladies, men and sponsors of the Pregnancy Resource Center of Charlotte! Amen
Ms. Hodges, isn’t it rather short-sighted to choose to focus on minor details, such as the sign asking about religious preference (normally considered commendable in our society) and, God forbid, praying for others? Also, if you are looking for people to perfectly represent any group, you will always be sadly disappointed. None of us will interact perfectly with anyone – including you (and including NARAL – I will refrain for commenting on that group as an info source, since they are clearly biased.)
Ultimately focusing your article on minutia seems to be a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the real issue – to kill or not to kill a baby. It is that simple!
One good thing about your article, I now want to donate to the Charlotte Pregnancy Center.
Perhaps the “Investigative Reporter” will now do a little under cover work at a Planned Parenthood Center and report on the information they dispense. Do they inform women of the possible long term problems from having an abortion? Or do they say it is a relatively simple procedure that carries little risk? In short, the writer of this article went through the door knowing exactly what kind of article she was going to write. No surprise coming from CL and their Leftist staff.
I am a graduate student researching pregnancy resources in Charlotte. I was amazed to find that two different websites came up for the same center — PRC, with the same physical address and phone number, but different web addresses. If someone happened across the first hit for PRC and looked at THAT website, they would read that PRC is a non-profit, non-denominational, non-political organizational that provides women with unintended pregnancies testing and facts about their options. The website even lists abortion as an option (also parenting and adoption). But on the other website (of the SAME organization), they state they are a faith-based, Christian ministry. I am not arguing one way or another, but an organization who is clearly pro-choice should not have a secondary website that leads someone to believe that they are unbiased. Women have their own views and opinions and should be able to choose if they want to go to a faith-based organization, not be mislead into thinking PRC has no political agenda — no matter how noble the agenda.
That is the most amateur piece of journalism that I have ever read. Her “red flags” are bizarre. Most medical facilities want to know what their patient’s religious affiliations are. Isn’t there some real news out there?
I agree. Get over yourself and find another story to dig up because there’s no “dirt” here. I’ve been to The Pregnancy Resource Center twice and a lot of the women there volunteer to help these pregnant women…without shoving religion down your throat too. I’ve been extremely pleased and would recommend them to anyone. They are good people that make a positive difference in the world. Imagine if more of us were this way.
This is OUTRAGEOUSLY biased journalism! You should be ashamed!! Also, for the love of God take a look at the other side; you may be amazed at what you discover. I think anyone who agrees with this or buys into this agenda is being blindfolded by the nasty truth of the other side. If writers like this can make our side look horrible enough, no-one will pay attention to what is actually happening (propaganda baby!) This author went in with an agenda for sure! -I agree 100%! I can’t say much about a place that I have not been to (this particular center) but what I can say is that this “writer” wants to shoot down ALL faith based pregnancy centers who are set up to offer an alternative to abortion. Our center helps families will just about every baby item from birth until age 4. These things are donated by Christ loving Christians who care! If they don’t want our help they don’t need to come in! I and am very passionate about our pregnancy center that I work for. We NEVER knowingly give false information and since when did someone force anyone to walk into a faith based center? If an individual comes in, we let them know up front that we are Christians who would like to offer an alternative to abortion. I have had an abortion and between my sisters, self and mother we have killed 13 babies! We all realize that society told us that abortion was a solution, that we would get over it and that the baby was merely a blob of unrecognizable tissue, tell me WHO is giving false information! Also, if I tell a client about my story will they suffer a trauma that can come close to stacking up against the trauma of abortion? Abortion is harmful to an entire family! It never goes away! Do you say I am wrong for trying to save someone from believing the garbage I believed and then going down a similar road?, I suggest that ANYONE who thinks abortion should be a choice to thoroughly research what the after effects are on a woman, no matter what her religion is. I am still dumbfounded by the line that talks about a “red flag” going up when a religion was asked for at this clinic. Think! How else does a counselor know where to start if she has no clue what religion the woman is? Any-one who knows the truth needs to come out and start exposing abortion for what it really is and does. People like this writer would love to see all us faith based centers closed and we need to push back! By the way, we take absolutely NO money from the government and never have since inception of 1985! I believe this is very common! Government typically will fund baby killing over the healing and help that we provide just FYI.
I am a pro- choice, agnostic, liberal who has used their services and this article is a joke. The woman here are very helpful and not once did they pressure me to keep the baby or flat out ask anything about religion, wonder if this “article” is even credible.
ATTN!!!
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My NAME is Katty White from the UK.
I was Married for about 18 years and was unable to conceive. i have done series of Test and the Result was that i wont be able to bear any CHILD because i was BARREN.
I cried and cried because my Husband threatened to get married to someone else. I shared my marriage story with my parent in France and they told me about a spell caster that help auntie MISSIE cast a pregnancy spell when she needed a male child. i contacted the spell caster and told him about my BARRENNESS.
Just within 2 days, He prepared a Cleansing spell rival and sent it to me which i applied and felt a big changes in my body.
2 months later, i was pregnant and i gave birth just 1 week ago. am not yet strong but i wish to inform you all about him. if you need his help you can email him on dr.oranitutu@gmail.com or dr.oranitutu@yahoo.com
WARMS REGARDS
I hope the “journalist” who wrote that was just as interested in the undercover PP videos. Watch the full-length videos and decide for yourself — if you dare: http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org
I took my 14 yr old daughter here to discuss ALL of her options as a pregnant young lady in a crisis. I felt that she needed to know all of the options that were available to her. What happened in this facility was like something out of a movie. We went there to get an ultrasound to confirm just how far along she was, so that we would be able to navigate what her choices would be. She had an appointment and was taken behind a locked door… mind you she is a MINOR, where I was left out in the waiting room. Upon being taken to the back of the office, I noticed a cross hanging from the door handle on the inside of the door. I thought that was odd, then started to put things together… like how nice the furniture was in the facility, the lack of state licenses on the wall, no literature available, AND the fact that after 20 mins and ringing the service bell several times to inquire about my daughter. I was finally led into a room where two women had been talking with my daughter, without me present. One was the ” bouncer”… she actually leaned back against the door as if to prevent anyone from leaving the room. The other woman spoke to my daughter and explained that there were consequences to every decision she made. “There are consequences to saving a life and taking a life”. She also stated that her pregnancy test came out negative, and that she should come back in two weeks to retake a test. Mind you, she had already had a blood test from a physician that confirmed the pregnancy. And by all calculations that would have put her past the time frame to get a legal abortion, IF she wanted to make that choice. We went there to get an ultrasound so that she would be able to make an informed choice on what she would be able to do. I feel like their agenda was being forced on a young woman who was already traumatized by her circumstances… and to me that was a very scary situation to be in…. creating further trauma to an already traumatic situation. Needless to say… we abruptly left.
If you find yourself facing a decision like this, I believe it is best to explore ALL options that are available to you. It is not right to force your will, and your beliefs on someone who is already under a lot of stress and uncertainty, for your agenda!
I don’t condone the irresponsibility my daughter showed. But here we are faced with the consequence. My daughter is mentally ill, and we are fighting her illness everyday. It has been such a struggle. Her illness causes her to do things that aren’t always good choices. So please take that into consideration before making a nasty comment. We struggle on a daily basis with the most basic tasks…. we are doing our best.
I just wanted to alert anyone who may be considering going there, what they will be up against.
Tracie,
I happen to agree with some others about the bias approach of the article and the lack of journalistic material. But I am very sorry that you and your daughter have to struggle. I am a supporter of pro-life. I had my daughter at 19 and though it was hard I wouldnt have done it differently. I think what people miss is the basis for pro-life is love. Its not about anti-choice. Its about loving the mom and the unborn child. I dont want to bash any woman but I also dont want to support ending childrens lives either. Woman can choose to give their child up for adoption and thats still being kind to the child. It really should just be about loving both the mom and the baby. I hope that you and your daughter have an easier time and many good things unfold for you both.