On October 31, 2022, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) published an issue brief claiming pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) use various “tactics” such as “misleading information” and “emotional manipulation” to dissuade pregnant women from seeking life-affirming help. ACOG went further to say that the “delaying and diverting” tactics used by PRC staff endanger public health.

 

Similar lies suggesting that pregnancy resource centers provide “misleading” information were recently issued as a consumer alert to New Jersey residents by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

 

“Misleading information.” “Endanger public health.” An interesting choice of words that aptly describe hallmark characteristics central to the abortion industry. If genuine reproductive healthcare was truly the abortionist’s goal, Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortionists would seek to save babies’ lives so these unborn patients would become lifelong patients. Let’s be clear: abortion is a business—a lucrative business. As a “non-profit” enterprise, Planned Parenthood in one year made well over a billion dollars with a profit approaching one-quarter of a billion dollars. Taxpayer money provided one-third of the funding to Planned Parenthood for numerous years. Planned Parenthood performs roughly a million abortions every three years.

 

Those motivated by money are not encouraged to stop profiting from their actions (in this case, killing unborn babies). They are motivated to make more money—at your expense. Abortionists will use emotional manipulation with words such as “autonomy” and “choice” and “reproductive freedom.” What they mean in plain speak: “This pregnancy is threatening your independence. This abortion is essential to you maintaining your independence and having a fulfilling, successful life.” They play up the autonomy of the pregnant woman independent of the unique human being growing inside of her. She will pay for the procedure for the sake of “autonomy” and “independence”—and that payment will cost a life.

 

Here is what the abortion industry doesn’t tell you:

 

• Abortion is consequential. Abortion often tends to lead to more abortions. Per this July 31, 2020 SAGE Journal article, “women experiencing repeated pregnancies and subsequent abortions following an index abortion are subjected to an increased exposure of hemorrhage and infection, the major causes of maternal mortality, and other adverse consequences resulting from multiple separation events.” From the CMDA Ethics Statement on Abortion, “Short-term complications of surgical abortion include infection, perforation, hemorrhage, incomplete abortion, anesthesia-related complications, and death of the mother. Long-term complications may surface several years after the abortion and include preterm birth, infertility, breast cancer, and increased long-term mortality.”

 

Abortion is not safe, and it has become more dangerous to women and girls who seek to self-manage their abortions through drugs (chemical abortion) unsupervised by a physician. Aside from the physical consequences, many will experience emotional and mental trauma from having seen their aborted child’s body.

 

• There is no accountability. No comprehensive abortion complication reporting system is available, meaning there is little oversight. With more telehealth prescribing of abortion drugs without in-person physician visits, and looser restrictions, health safety standards are removed. Plus, there is no requirement to report any serious adverse outcomes. In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed the requirement to report all serious complications from mifepristone except death (mifepristone and misoprostol comprise the abortion pill regimen). Also in 2016, the FDA reduced the number of required in-person office visits from three to one and expanded who could prescribe and administer chemical abortion drugs beyond medical doctors, thus removing safeguards. So, who can say if the woman will be an unknown statistic? Where are the pro-abortionists’ collecting and providing data on adverse outcomes from abortion that would better serve public health interests? Will the abortionist tell a mother the disadvantages of aborting her unborn baby? Who is truly deceiving and misleading? Clearly, it is the abortion industry, not pregnancy resource centers. As wider abortion access is granted in select states and training provided to non-physicians to perform abortions driven by increased demand, there needs to be great public education and concern for what is an increasingly dangerous health threat to women—dangers brought by an industry with little accountability or transparency.

 

• Abortion is not simple. The abortion industry will purport that a mother who is considering aborting her baby can trade her current difficulty of an unwanted pregnancy for an easier, freer life. This is false. Numerous women have shared their stories of being traumatized after having an abortion—some of them 10 to 20 years or more afterwards.

 

• Abortion suggests we are free to temper with another life. This is also false. God is the author and giver of life. Each person is created in His image, known by Him (Jeremiah 1:5), “knitted together” and “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-16, ESV). Each life has value, no matter the duration. Scriptures remind us of God’s heart for life. In His heart for life, He detests murder. Simply put in Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder” (NIV).

 

We recognize that every woman’s situation is unique and complex with real concerns about how she can raise her child from an unwanted pregnancy. Amid these real concerns and fears, could this situation also birth seeds of opportunity? Could a difficult situation make us and others anew? Yes. There are countless stories shared by women and couples who experienced an unwanted pregnancy and were helped by pregnancy resource centers. Pregnancy resource centers provide support and resources (free of charge) that remove barriers to keeping their baby, allow families desiring a child to adopt or bring healing. Such support and resources include maternity and baby items, counseling, parenting classes, free ultrasounds, adoption and housing referrals, post-abortion support, etc.

 

We are grateful for pro-life alternatives to the perceived need for abortion. Thanks to the compassionate work of thousands of pregnancy centers around the country, women who face financial and personal challenges during pregnancy and after giving birth are receiving financial, medical and practical help. They also receive emotional and spiritual support. Young fathers are learning, through pregnancy centers’ education, counseling and mentoring, to share in the responsibility and fulfillment of bringing a new life into the world. This is life-affirming work.

 

From our daily moments to our most difficult of situations, thank you heavenly Father for being El Roi, The God who sees me, sees us, sees our situations and needs. Thank you for being the God who shows yourself mighty.