Pro-Life Television Campaign Reduces Abortions, Helps Pregnant Women

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 10, 2006   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life Television Campaign Reduces Abortions, Helps Pregnant Women Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 10, 2006

Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) — A pro-life television campaign aimed at helping women find practical help and solutions is getting proven results. It has helped reduce the number of abortions and prompted thousands of women in cities across the nation to head to a crisis pregnancy center for assistance.

VirtueMedia, an Arizona based nonprofit, is the brainchild of media veteran Tom Peterson. The group launched a major television campaign in eight cities during Fall 2005 and January 2006.

The ads, run in cities such as Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, feature women from a variety of backgrounds discussing their fears about an unplanned pregnancy. They direct women to the 1-800-395-HELP phone number, which connects the caller to Option Line, a telephone counseling service run by Care Net and Heartbeat International.

The counselors direct callers to local crisis pregnancy centers.

A $20,000 campaign in Atlanta generated 2,646 calls to the toll-free phone number from pregnant women needing help. Atlanta Care Center, a Care Net affiliate, assisted some of the nearly 3,000 women responding to the campaign.

“The majority of clients who visited our office found us by calling the number on the TV commercial," center director Jason Phillips explains. "Most of these women were abortion- vulnerable prior to the visit."

One woman who visited the center after seeing the television ad and calling the number, decided against having an abortion. She said seeing an ultrasound at the Atlanta Care Center changed her life.

"To see the baby’s feet, scratching his head, with his little legs crossed" the pregnant woman said. "I knew I was only being selfish and scared. I couldn’t get an abortion. It was unthinkable no matter how much struggling was ahead.”

The success of the commercials is also seen in the latest abortion figures.

VirtueMedia and Georgia Right to Life started a campaign in DeKalb and Fulton counties, where most of the abortions occur in the state, three years ago. According to health officials, abortions performed in Georgia in 2004 fell 5.3 percent from 2003.

VirtueMedia commercials have aired in over 1,500 U.S. cities and internationally and have helped save countless unborn babies. The group also produces commercials helping women after an abortion and encouraging teens to commit to abstinence before marriage.

Its Silent No More, post abortion healing campaign garnered 5,043 additional inquiries when it aired in Detroit this past fall. After VirtueMedia aired abstinence ads on MTV and BET, the abstinence website recorded 24,000 inquiries in a matter of days.

Related web sites:
VirtueMedia – https://www.virtuemedia.org