National Review
The Massachusetts Health Department Declared War on Pregnancy Centers. Mothers Are Fighting Back
By James Lynch
August 13, 2024 6:30 AM
Crisis pregnancy centers can provide a lifeline to young mothers unsure of how to handle pregnancy, but pro-abortion advocates in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health are using taxpayer dollars to convince vulnerable women otherwise.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts governor Maura Healey (D) launched a $1 million ad campaign against the state’s crisis pregnancy centers, and Massachusetts attorney general Andrea Campbell is leading a “working group” to increase access to abortion. Two years ago, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) called for a “crackdown” on what she claims are “misleading practices” by crisis pregnancy centers.
The Pregnancy Care Alliance of Massachusetts, a network of crisis pregnancy centers across the state, is petitioning Massachusetts’s top officials to stop waging attacks on the centers because of all the support they give to women in need.
“Massachusetts’ network of pregnancy care centers provides millions of dollars in no-cost support and care for thousands of women annually who face planned and unplanned pregnancies, with services ranging from pregnancy confirmation services, parenting education, and community referrals to material goods like diapers and formula,” the group said in a statement to National Review.
“The women served by pregnancy resource centers overwhelmingly report a positive experience, yet the Healey Administration and other politicians in the state are furthering their extreme abortion agenda by using a taxpayer-funded campaign to discredit our centers.”
Healey’s ad campaign was created by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health alongside the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation, a left-wing activist group that seeks to expand abortion access for low-income people and racial minorities. The ads urge Massachusetts residents to avoid crisis pregnancy centers because they allegedly spread “misinformation” about abortion and use deceptive advertising. A postcard size version of the ad campaign criticizes the pregnancy centers for not giving referrals to abortion providers.
Massachusetts created an entire web page with talking points on why people should avoid “anti-abortion centers” that redirects people to search for abortion providers and other alternatives.
Two Massachusetts women who became pregnant as teenagers told National Review about the support they received from crisis pregnancy centers. Their stories stand in sharp contrast to the claims of Democratic politicians and activists seeking to demonize the centers.
“As a young girl who chose to go to a Pregnancy Resource Center, I would say that the attacks against the centers are baseless and untrue. I know firsthand how helpful and pressure-free the centers are,” said Brittany Valliere, who became pregnant in high school and faced pressure to have an abortion.
“I am truly grateful for the wonderful women that I have met through the Pregnancy Care Center and who have shown me such grace at a time that I needed it the most. I came to the Pregnancy Care Center a scared pregnant teenager and now I visit them as a strong mother of the most wonderful young man,” she added.
“The Center continues to provide Hope to women and girls, like me, who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy and gives them the courage and support to succeed and keep their baby. I know so many stories similar to mine, but some people don’t seem to want to listen.”
When she first visited the pregnancy center, Valliere received a pregnancy test and information on what to expect during her pregnancy. A staffer told her the center offered baby clothes, maternity clothes, formula, and other resources to assist her.
Valliere is not alone in her story of becoming pregnant as a teenager and getting help from a crisis pregnancy center. Melinda Bergeron became pregnant and 19 and went to First Concern, a pregnancy care center in Massachusetts, as she dealt with pressure to have an abortion.
“I ultimately chose life for my baby knowing I’d have the support I needed. The center provided pregnancy and newborn education, postpartum support groups, earn-while you-learn classes for costly baby items, and emotional support through the early challenges faced by so many of us,” Bergeron said.
“Personally, having been so young and not financially setup for a child at the time, I found so much value in earn-while-you-learn classes,” she said. “Not only was I provided with the educational tools to learn proper newborn care, but it was incentivized by receiving critical, yet costly items such as diapers, wipes, clothing, etc.”
Bergeron hopes those skeptical of crisis pregnancy centers will spend time listening to the stories of women like her with an open mind.
“The silence we often see from clients served by the PRCs is not from the PRC’s lack of value to the community, it’s fear of being attacked for having had a positive experience with an organization viewed differently than Pro-Abortion clinics,” she added.
“For those who are skeptical of PRC’s, I’d say talk to the clients. Educate yourselves. Tour a center, speak to those that work at these centers. Open your heart and mind to the idea that so many of us are grateful for these resources and thus, they should be safeguarded and protected to operate freely.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, permitting the states to regulate abortion as they saw fit, pro-abortion activists have ramped up attacks on crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life organizations, vandalizing their facilities and harassing their staff on dozens of occasions, according to Catholic Vote, a conservative Catholic organization. Few of the attacks on crisis pregnancy centers have led to prosecutions.
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