Few things are more inspiring in the pro-life movement than the generous and
even heroic work of those who serve the approximately 3000 Pregnancy Resource
Centers around the country. There are more such centers than there are abortion
mills, and the bulk of the pro-life movement, though you would never know this
from the media, consists of people providing financial, medical, legal,
religious, and emotional support to help mothers avoid the temptation to abort.
But there also is the challenge. Are these centers actually reaching women
who are tempted to abort? Many report otherwise. For example, a center that said
they "saw 1450 women in a year" also indicated that only 450 of these women took
a pregnancy test. Of those, only 150 were actually pregnant, and of those, only
15 were considering abortion. It is certainly an integral aspect of Christian
service to assist pregnant mothers who would never think about having an
abortion. But the pro-life movement has to be sure that its more specific
mission of stopping abortion is being fulfilled. We have to attract more
abortion-minded women to our centers.
A major step being taken in this direction is the effort to convert pregnancy
assistance centers to the status of medical clinics. The advantage of
this is that such clinics would be under the supervision of a doctor and would
be able to administer a pregnancy test, use an ultrasound machine, test for
STD's, and give diagnoses. A 1999 Advanced Market Research survey indicated that
just over 10% of pregnancy centers were medical clinics, but nearly half had
plans to convert to that status. Most importantly, for those that did convert,
the percentage of abortion-minded clients they served almost doubled, and the
number of abortion-minded clients who changed their minds and chose life
increased by 14%.
What, then, is needed to help this effort?
1. Become informed. Consult the National Institute of Family & Life Advocates
(NIFLA) (www.nifla.org), which assists pregnancy centers to become medical
clinics.
2. Pro-life physicians wanted! If you are, or know of, a physician who would
be willing to volunteer some of his or her time to supervise such a medical
clinic, let us know! "Supervising" does not require that the doctor actually be
present at the clinic.
3. Talk up the idea! Many people can assist with legal help, adjustments in
the physical facility that may be needed, ultrasound technology, and marketing.
4. Legislation is being introduced in Congress to fund such medical clinics
so they can obtain the best ultrasound equipment. Inform yourself and support
such legislation!
NIFLA hopes to assist 1000 pregnancy centers to convert to medical clinics by
the year 2010. There is no time to waste. Lives depend on it!
Finally, there is perhaps a lesson here for all who do pro-life work. We
should never become self-satisfied, and should always seek to bring the best
professional practices to our movement. Defenders of child-killing have done it
for decades, and we have a cause far more just!
