Pro-lifers overflowed into a meeting Monday night in Indiana to support a plan to open a pregnancy center next door to a proposed abortion facility in South Bend.
WSBT 22 News reports the South Bend Common Council narrowly voted to approve the pro-life pregnancy center’s rezoning request. The 5-4 vote will allow the Women’s Care Center to begin plans to expand its outreach in South Bend.
The pregnancy center will be located within 300 feet of a proposed abortion clinic, Whole Woman’s Health (WWH), according to the report. The state denied a license to the Texas-based abortion chain in January, saying it provided “inaccurate statements and information” on its application; however, WWH is appealing.
The abortion group opposes the pregnancy center’s plan to open next door.
Here’s more from the local news:
Hundreds of people supporting the Women’s Care Center expansion filled Monday’s council meeting.
There were so many people the fire department stopped letting people in. (pictured)
The council members who voted against it are worried that having the two facilities within 300 feet of each other will create a space of conflict.
Council President Tim Scott voted against the rezoning. He says there are a lot of people who have emailed and called saying they are against this plan.
Several council members expressed concerns about protesters and safety, but Women’s Care Center leaders assured the community that they are dedicated to patient safety and care.
“Our work creates an environment of safety for our community of South Bend, the communities that we are in. Twenty-two times over the last 34 years we have located next door or near abortion clinics and have not had the experience of protesting or violence,” said Jenny Hunsberger, vice president of the center.
“We will not allow protesters or protesting and we will ask anyone in the public right of way in front of our property to leave,” she continued. “We will not support protesting by constructing out-buildings, putting up signs, or speakers. We are categorically 100 percent opposed to protesting.”
She said they even met with the employees of the abortion facility to discuss safety concerns.
While Hunsberger emphasized care and compassionate options for women, the abortion facility’s Managing Director Jesse Torrey chose to make unfounded accusations against the pregnancy center.
“There’s not a written commitment that will change the core mission of women’s health care center,” Torrey told WNDU 16 News. “Which is to do everything they can to mislead and deceive women who they can access, which is why they want to locate next to our clinic.”
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While abortion facilities like Whole Woman’s Health earn money when women abort their unborn babies, pregnancy centers like Women’s Care Center lose money when they help women and their unborn babies.
Non-profit pregnancy centers function primarily with volunteers and donations; very few receive government money. They provide information about pregnancy options and life-affirming support for women and their babies. Their services often include counseling and emotional support, material supplies like cribs, diapers and maternity clothes, and help with job skills, housing assistance and more. Many continue to support women and children for the first couple years after birth. What’s more, they provide their services for free.
Meanwhile, WWH makes money killing unborn babies and deceiving their mothers. And it has a poor reputation for meeting basic health and safety standards.
It has racked up dozens of health and safety violations at its Texas facilities. Health inspection reports show numerous problems with sterilizing and disinfecting instruments that were used from woman to woman. State inspectors also found rusty spots on suction machines that had the “likelihood to cause infection” and other issues that put patients’ safety in jeopardy.
South Bend, the home of Notre Dame University, has not had an abortion facility since 2015 when abortionist Ulrich Klopfer was forced to close. He faced 1,833 allegations of violating the law, including failures to report the suspected rapes of several teen girls to authorities.
