For more information on agencies serving in and around the Diocese of Trenton, visit:
dioceseoftrenton.org/pregnancy-resources
“I came to Choices Women’s Center because I was building my exit plan.”
Those were my patient’s words, and that exit plan included leaving her marriage and possibly ending the life of her child. As she said, “I was 100% considering aborting my baby.”
Pregnancy centers are essential in the landscape of women’s health care, providing access to compassionate, high-quality, life-affirming care for women just like this patient.
As a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and medical director of four pregnancy centers in North Carolina, my medical practice specializes in the care of women with unplanned pregnancies. I witness firsthand the critical role these four centers and those across this country play in saving lives – both of women and their unborn children.
Pregnancy centers offer exceptional care in state-of-the-art environments – an alternative to facilities focused solely on induced abortion. Patients are seen by a highly qualified team of licensed and board-certified health care professionals.
Data from a Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) survey of 2,750 pregnancy centers in the United States demonstrated in their 2022 Hope for a New Generation Report that 16 million client/patient visits occurred at no charge, both in-person and through tele-health in 2021.
Women and their families received services and goods valued at $358 million dollars, including appointments with health care professionals, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, parenting education programs, material goods and much more. Ninety-seven percent of the women served reported a positive experience.
Pregnancy centers recognize that the purpose of medicine is health, healing and wholeness – and thus the direct and intentional killing of one of our fetal patients is not health care. Our approach aligns with the majority of obstetrician/gynecologists who do not perform induced abortions as part of their medical practice.
There is, however, a critical need to educate the public and rebuild trust in pregnancy centers that have been intentionally attacked by medical organizations that have become an openly partisan wing of the abortion lobby.
What’s more, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) works to advance extreme abortion policies with no limits or barriers – even releasing briefs to both their membership and the public that discredit our medical services and state that pregnancy centers “operate unethically.” They have lost sight of their mission to care for both maternal and fetal patients.
If ACOG truly cared for women, they might encourage health care professionals to refer patients to pregnancy centers and stop misleading women who need care, thus denying them services that can often be provided the same day and at no charge.
I have seen the progress made when we fill in the gaps of care. At pregnancy centers, we bring case workers into our centers to aid pregnant women and girls. Sixty percent of women say that they would not have sought abortions if their life circumstances were different.
We serve as a lifeline for vulnerable women to access better health care and address disparities such as lack of housing, childcare, food, clothing, insurance and transportation. We partner with hospital systems, health departments, private practices and other nonprofits to create a network of care that ensures no woman is left behind. In short – we provide more viable options for women than the local abortion facility.
The future of women’s health care lies in building trust and expanding the reach of our centers. I encourage my physician colleagues to consider working with pregnancy centers to reach underserved patients. I also want to encourage the millions of women who have received exceptional health care at pregnancy centers to let your stories be heard.
Dr. Susan Bane is a practicing OB/GYN with 25 years of experience and the founder of Dr. Pink Glasses. She serves on the board of The American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the medical board for CareNet.