Pregnancy Center Group to Provide Abortion Alternatives in Philadelphia

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 10, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pregnancy Center Group to Provide Abortion Alternatives in Philadelphia Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 10,
2007

Philadelphia, PA (LifeNews.com) — A national pregnancy center organization is teaming up with local charitable groups in Philadelphia to provide women with crisis pregnancies another option besides abortion. The project is part of an effort by Care Net to reach out to minority communities that are heavily targeted by abortion businesses.

Despite the pro-life heritage in African-American communities across the nation, black women account for 13 percent of the American population but 37 percent of all abortions.

The rates appear to correspond with the expansion of Planned Parenthood abortion centers into racial minority communities.

In Philadelphia alone, one part of town features five abortion centers within a two-mile square radius, and that’s where Care Net officials hope to team up with former Philadelphia Eagle player and current pastor Herbert Lusk to build a new pregnancy center.

The collaborative effort is part of Care Net’s "Touchdown Cities" project, an initiative to bring free pregnancy services to women and men in urban areas

"Without convenient access to the free and compassionate help of pregnancy centers, women in crisis pregnancies often feel that abortion is their only option," Lorey Kelley, Care Net’s Director of Urban Center Development, tells LifeNews.com. "As a result, women in urban areas are paying the heavy price."

The statistics, she said, bear that out.

"Currently, 94% of all abortion providers are located in metropolitan areas, with 70% of these in urban communities," Kelley explained.

"As a result, African American and Hispanic women account for a disproportionate number of the more than 1.2 million abortions performed in the United States each year. There’s something wrong with this picture," Kelley added.

Care Net is raising $75,000 to help open the area’s first pregnancy center, which will offer a host of free services, such as pregnancy tests, peer counseling, material resources, childbirth and parenting classes, and community referrals.

Lusk’s group, People For People, Inc., has acquired a building at 717 N. Broad Street, which will be renovated Sept. 13-14 by Carpenters for Christ, a volunteer team of skilled carpenters from Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

"We applaud Pastor Lusk for his leadership in bringing the women of his community a ‘touchdown’ of real choices and support," Kelley said. "His example should be followed in urban areas across the country."

Related web sites:
Care Net – https://www.care-net.org