Last week I joined a pro-life friend for dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill across from the White House in Washington DC. As I devoured a Rueben sandwich and fries, I passively mentioned the increased attacks facing pregnancy centers from NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and other pro-abortion organizations.
Her response did not surprise me. I’ve heard it time and time again—But no one really wants to attack pregnancy centers do
they? Why would anyone oppose the work of centers? I knew what was flying through her mind—Aren’t pregnancy centers uncontroversial, unthreatening, meek, and passive? Don’t they “fly under the radar?” Why would anyone want to attack sweet little center workers and volunteers passing out diapers and baby cribs?
The truth is that pregnancy centers are a significant, if not primary, target of America’s largest pro-abortion organizations. Centers are more than providers of baby goods. They are dynamic, vocal, involved, effective in reducing abortions, and avid defenders of women. There is no better example of this than the recent action of two Care Net pregnancy centers in South Dakota.
On August 20th, a federal judge struck down a portion of a pro-life law in South Dakota mandating that women seeking abortions be informed that abortion increases the risk of suicide, and that women have legal relationships with their unborn children. Rather than passively accepting the judge’s decision, the Alpha Center in Sioux Falls and the Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center in Rapid City joined a lawsuit appealing the judge’s decision to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Joining a lawsuit of this magnitude naturally brings increased criticism, scrutiny, and publicity attacks against these centers, not to mention personal attacks against the centers' executive directors. But, these centers, like all pregnancy centers, daily see the pain and hurt caused by abortion as they provide compassionate care to the thousands of women who undergo post-abortion healing in pregnancy centers each year.
Her response did not surprise me. I’ve heard it time and time again—But no one really wants to attack pregnancy centers do
they? Why would anyone oppose the work of centers? I knew what was flying through her mind—Aren’t pregnancy centers uncontroversial, unthreatening, meek, and passive? Don’t they “fly under the radar?” Why would anyone want to attack sweet little center workers and volunteers passing out diapers and baby cribs?The truth is that pregnancy centers are a significant, if not primary, target of America’s largest pro-abortion organizations. Centers are more than providers of baby goods. They are dynamic, vocal, involved, effective in reducing abortions, and avid defenders of women. There is no better example of this than the recent action of two Care Net pregnancy centers in South Dakota.
On August 20th, a federal judge struck down a portion of a pro-life law in South Dakota mandating that women seeking abortions be informed that abortion increases the risk of suicide, and that women have legal relationships with their unborn children. Rather than passively accepting the judge’s decision, the Alpha Center in Sioux Falls and the Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center in Rapid City joined a lawsuit appealing the judge’s decision to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Joining a lawsuit of this magnitude naturally brings increased criticism, scrutiny, and publicity attacks against these centers, not to mention personal attacks against the centers' executive directors. But, these centers, like all pregnancy centers, daily see the pain and hurt caused by abortion as they provide compassionate care to the thousands of women who undergo post-abortion healing in pregnancy centers each year. When it comes to defending women and providing the truth about abortion, centers are not willing to just sit in the shadows.
While I burst with admiration for the stand made by the South Dakota centers, I can’t help but think that these courageous centers are merely doing what we should all be doing—daily defending women and speaking the truth about the horrors of abortion. It is not as hard as it might seem. Even the U.S. Supreme Court (yes, the very court that gave us Roe v. Wade) has publically recognized that abortion hurts women in a recent majority opinion.
While I burst with admiration for the stand made by the South Dakota centers, I can’t help but think that these courageous centers are merely doing what we should all be doing—daily defending women and speaking the truth about the horrors of abortion. It is not as hard as it might seem. Even the U.S. Supreme Court (yes, the very court that gave us Roe v. Wade) has publically recognized that abortion hurts women in a recent majority opinion.
What are you willing to do? What have you done today? Not sure where to start? How about sharing this blog with a friend!
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