Pregnancy Center Groups Hold Congressional Briefing on Their Work 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 20, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — With crisis pregnancy centers under attack in Congress and throughout the country in both the media and from pro-abortion groups, three leading pregnancy center organization held a briefing on Capitol Hill to educated lawmakers and their staffs about the centers and their work.
Heartbeat International joined with representatives of Care Net and National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, a group that provides centers with legal help, told hold the briefing last week.
Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., the national director of Heartbeat, told LifeNews.com that members of Congress and staff members from both political parties attended the forum.
"After an onslaught of attacks against pregnancy centers, there is a great need to be proactive and explain to Congressional members and staffers the importance of the life-saving work of pregnancy centers across the country," she said.
Harthshorn also pointed to recent national media attention pregnancy centers have received from Time magazine and CBS News.
"We needed to present the history of the pregnancy center movement along with our vision for the future where women are able to recognize abortion as the harmful choice that it is," she added.
Congressman Rick Renzi, an Arizona Republican who was actively involved in supporting pregnancy centers prior to his election to Congress, was one of the key members who helped facilitate the event.
"It is vital to the future of our nation that we respond to the false allegations against pregnancy centers," he told LifeNews.com in a statement.
He called on pro-life advocates to volunteer at centers and let their communities know about the good work they do.
"We need to get the truth out to legislators that these non-political, faith-based organizations serve the mother so she does not feel forced to abort, and these dedicated volunteers also work to strengthen each family, which is after all the basic unit of civilization," Renzi said.
Presentations at the Congressional briefing ranged from abortion risks and medical accuracy to client demographics, and ultrasound technology.
Representatives of the groups also discussed their commitment to client confidentiality and truthfulness and accuracy of all materials given to women who come to their facilities.
Related web sites:
Heartbeat International – https://www.heartbeatinternational.org
Care Net – https://www.care-net.org
