The Pregnant Woman Experiment - A sobering look at ‘crisis counseling’ across the nation
We’ve all read and seen plenty here on LGF about Christian run pregnancy “counseling centers” that are designed for the ultimate goal of preventing women from having an abortion at any cost.
I became curious just how widespread these operations are and how they actually worked.
So, with the help of Google, I (sort of) stepped into the shoes of a pregnant woman and did some poking around to see what information I’d be exposed to if I were indeed contemplating a pregnancy termination.
What I found was fascinating…
I started with a general search of the term “pregnancy options”. Of the first ten results, close to half are links to sites which are either prominently pro-life (like the LDS family services group which not surprisingly is housed at itsaboutlove.org) or subtly pro-life, like optionline.org.
A visit to the option line site makes it seem to be a potentially impartial and non-religious crisis center. HOWEVER, if you click through two links and pull up their “considering abortion” section, you find this:
It may seem like abortion will wipe away this situation and you can just move on. It’s not that simple. Abortion is not just a simple medical procedure. For many women, it is a life changing event with significant physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences. Most women who struggle with past abortions say that they wish they had been told all of the facts about abortion and its risks.
Scrolling down the rest of the page, differing abortion procedures are described in very graphic detail and then there’s a large section on post abortion issues which says, among other things, that having an abortion can sharply increase your risk of breast cancer.
Contrast that with the information I found from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation about abortion safety:
How safe is abortion?
Abortions done by doctors are very safe. Less than 1 out of 100 women have a serious problem from an abortion.1
The safest timing for an abortion is usually during the first trimester. This is when a low-risk medicine or vacuum aspiration procedure can be used. Medicine is not recommended after 9 weeks.
After 9 weeks, only surgical abortion can be used. Problems from surgical abortion in the second trimester may include heavy blood loss, infection, and moderate to severe pain.
Tell me a pregnant woman wouldn’t find that utterly confusing. I should also note the Palo Alto site seems to be an excellent, non biased source for pregnancy info.
Moving forward with my “experiment” I realized that a pregnant woman would probably want help locally, so I did some location based searches, starting off with the state of Kansas. Now I already knew what to expect, but I wanted to do a good sampling of both Republican and Democratic states so I could accurately see the similarities and differences.
One of the first sites I hit for Kansas was called “Rachel’s house”, it’s another one of those sites that seems impartial, but a look at their abortion procedures page reveals their agenda. It’s the same overly graphic descriptions used by the other site I mentioned above.
The next site I hit in Kansas was called Caring Pregnancy Options - Solutions of Hope. Now their main page identifies them as a ministry, so their objectives are clear from the get-go. What I found interesting about this site was a page on abortion myths, which included the following info:
Myth:
Thousands of women died every year from illegal abortion before Roe V. Wade legalized abortion.Fact:
According to the Center for Disease Control, the exact number is 39 and 27 more from legal abortions (in states where the procedure was already legal in 1972 before Roe.)Myth:
Legalized abortion has been good for women.Fact:
Abortion fosters an attitude and a culture of sexual irresponsibility by promising no consequences. It has not reduced child abuse, illegitimacy or reduced poverty. Medical and emotional problems for women abound.
I didn’t bother researching the first claim, but it seems suspect. The second claim is somewhat ludicrous because you could replace “abortion” with dozens of other words and still make the same argument about cultural decay.
Moving on, I start searching pregnancy crisis centers in Alabama and find more of the same. At savalife.org, I am met with the mission statement:
To help men and women embrace the Truth of God’s Word as they make life affirming decisions about their unborn child.
Over at Care Net, I find the following on the “About us” page:
“As the largest network of pregnancy centers in North America, Care Net is committed to expanding access to the life-saving services and support provided by our local centers and to reaching the hurting and broken with the hope of Jesus Christ. “
So then I decide to explore some more heavily Democratic states, starting in Pennsylvania. Shockingly, the first FIVE matches for “Pregnancy crisis center Pennsylvania” are pro life sites. The very first hit is for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life association.
From there, I hit a site called Ramah International. Among other interesting information, it includes this shocking tip for women seeking abortions:
Confirm your pregnancy with a doctor who doesn’t do abortions
It is possible that the abortion clinic may provide you with incorrect information in order to obtain your abortion fee. Carol Everett is a woman who used to provide abortion services in Texas. She testified in Congress that she sold abortions to women who were not pregnant, but feared they were.
For the best medical input on abortion, we recommend you speak with a medical professional who has nothing to gain in your abortion decision.
So they use one example of a doctor doing unethical things to try to paint all abortion providers as evil, greedy people who care only about money and not their patients well-being.
Next up is the Genesis Pregnancy Care center. The site name alone along with the home page featured “Bible quote of the day” makes their aims obvious. They also include this statement at the top of the page:
Pregnant or think you might be pregnant? Need help or someone to talk to?
You’ve come to the right place! Loving, compassionate Client Advisors are here to help you make good choices
I don’t know about you, but I would be really interested to hear one of those “loving, compassionate” conversations myself.
So I decide to pick a more Liberal state and see what pops up. In searching on crisis centers in Connecticut, I again see most of the first 10 search results are pro-life operations, including the Crisis Pregnancy Center Inc, which includes a “Testimonies” section that features such headings as:
Amazing Grace - One Woman’s Journey from Post-Abortive Devastation to Redemption .
The Power of Friendship - “I don’t think her mom told her about the choice she made so long ago.”
Jacob’s Story - “He is the joy of my life and you are the reason he is here!”
The Next Chapter “Sue made it clear to me that she had already made her decision…”
Glory in the Place of Despair A testimony about post-abortive regret and healing.
From there, I stumble on to carolyns place. This site bothers me for one main reason. Looking at the home page, it seems impartial and quite informative. Even when you click on the “post abortion support” link, nothing at first seems to promote any particular point of view, but further down the page, they feature the story of a woman this center helped that includes this:
Carolyn’s Place gave me a sanctuary where I was safe and could talk about the abortion. Facing the truth about what I had done was very difficult, but it brought me wholeness and forgiveness. God’s mercy is never outdone! I will always regret the abortion. But I now see each day as a gift. And I can honor Gabrielle by making the most of that gift.
There are tons of these stealth “pro life” sites out there that are extremely subtle about their biases and I’m sure there are plenty of women who get involved in these groups without realizing what they are actually about until they come face to face with a “counselor” or “advisor”.
As I am compiling this information, I notice something that prompts me to do one final search. You may recall above I mentioned a site I had come across that explained abortion procedures and stuff in graphic detail that included the line:
“Abortion is not just a simple medical procedure. For many women, it is a life changing event with significant physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences.”
As I search other sites, I find many of them featuring a similar page with the EXACT same wording. Intrigued, I Google the phrase and come up with over 5500 pro life pregnancy websites using this same wording, down to the letter.
They are from all over the country: North Dakota, Colorado, California, Kentucky, Florida, New York and so on.
CONCLUSION
Firstly, I must say I was surprised that the number of pro-life sites seem to either be equal to or exceed that of sites that offered honest, non biased information on abortion (or other pregnancy options for that matter).
I can barely imagine what an emotionally affected pregnant woman searching through all this stuff must be thinking and feeling. There’s a lot of information out there and a good chunk of it isn’t very accurate. I can’t help but wonder how many women have made a life changing decision based on faulty or outright false information.
While I do appreciate women who choose to keep a child (or put it up for adoption), I understand some do not for various reasons and I do not hate these people nor wish terrible things upon them for what they did. If a woman has an abortion, that’s between her and, if she chooses to involve Him, God. There shouldn’t be a need for any other parties.
One of my closest friends has had a couple of abortions and I still value our friendship and treat her with great respect. Put simply, I don’t judge people for their mistakes and I think in most cases that’s a good policy to go by because 99 times out of 100, unless you’ve walked in their shoes, you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.