Legislators and Missouri and Wisconsin are honoring the work of crisis pregnancy centers that help women find abortion alternatives and tangible pregnancy support.
On Tuesday, the Missouri state House passed a resolution sponsored by Republican Thomas Long to honor the centers. Long said the centers are good and providing free services like giving away free diapers and formula and he explained how his son was adopted from a woman who went to such a center seeking an abortion.
The vote was 122 to 25, with six voting present as some Democrats criticized the idea — including Rep. Mary Still and Rep. Sara Lampe, who called honoring centers helping women a “silly idea.”
“The life-affirming impact of pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes on women, families, and the communities they serve is considerable and growing, and pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes serve with integrity and compassion,” says the resolution.
Care Net and Americans United for Life, a leading pregnancy center network and a national pro-life group, commended the legislature.
“Care Net praises pregnancy centers for getting noticed – there’s definitely a ‘buzz’ in the air about your good work,” said Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde. “In this era of state budget shortfalls, it’s organizations like pregnancy centers that help to hold our communities together, providing free services to help empower women and strengthen families.”
Delahoyde told LifeNews she appreciated the sponsors and AUL for their leadership on behalf of pregnancy centers, saying, “Care Net is grateful to those who continue to come alongside our movement to champion the quiet, life-saving work of pregnancy centers.”
Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, added: “The praise that pregnancy centers are receiving for their life-affirming impact on the women, families, and communities they serve is well-deserved and long-overdue. We look forward to working with more states to adopt this important resolution and to further support the critical work of pregnancy centers.”
Pregnancy centers provide practical help and emotional support to empower those facing unplanned pregnancies to make an informed and life-affirming pregnancy decision. Care Net is a national organization supporting the work of 1,130 pregnancy centers in North America. On the other hand, Planned Parenthood’s own figures show a very small percentage of women who are pregnancy actually receive prenatal care as opposed to abortions.
Meanwhile, Pro-Life Wisconsin indicates the Wisconsin Senate voted yesterday and approved Senate Joint Resolution 28, which Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has lobbied against. The legislation honors pregnancy care centers and proclaims October 2011 as Pregnancy Care Month.The resolution passed, 28-5; it is co-sponsored by Senator Dan Kapanke and Representative Andre Jacque, both 100% pro-life legislators endorsed by Pro-Life Wisconsin.
The group provided the language of the resolution, which reads:
Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature strongly support pregnancy care centers in their unique, positive contributions to the individual lives of women, men, and babies– both born and unborn; and, be it further
Resolved, That the Wisconsin legislature commends the compassionate work of tens of thousands of volunteers and paid staff at pregnancy care centers in Wisconsin and across the United States; and, be it further
Resolved, That the Wisconsin legislature disapproves of the actions of any national, state, or local groups attempting to prevent pregnancy care centers from effectively serving women and men facing unplanned pregnancies; and, be it further
Resolved, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature proclaim October 2011 as Pregnancy Care Month in the state of Wisconsin, and commend this observance to all citizens.
