A Massachusetts city became the first in the nation last month to attack pro-life pregnancy centers that provide life-affirming support for mothers and their babies.
Live Action News reports the Somerville City Council approved the pro-abortion ordinance March 24, prompting praise from the abortion industry. In a statement, the billion-dollar abortion chain Planned Parenthood thanked the council for passing the ordinance to support “reproductive rights and reproductive justice.”
The City of Somerville does not have any pregnancy resource centers, but the ordinance likely will deter any from opening, according to the report. Violators would be fined $300.
Supposedly, the purpose of the ordinance is to protect women from “deceptive, “misleading and manipulative language” at pregnancy resource centers, city councilmember Kristen Strezo said, according to Tufts Daily, the student newspaper of Tufts University.
“I’m really upset that I still have to fight as hard as I do for reproductive justice and abortion access,” Strezo said. “We know that, in many cases, [pro-life pregnancy centers’] intent is disingenuous, and they often will withhold critical information about pregnancy [and] about abortion. In my capacity as a city councilor, we have to make sure that … accurate information is getting out there.”
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Strezo also bragged about being a “trendsetter” as abortion advocacy groups expressed hope that the ordinance will become a model for other cities across the U.S., the newspaper reports.
“[Somerville is] known for being trendsetters and really taking on issues that many municipalities sometimes are afraid of,” she said. “I’m grateful to say this is another first for Somerville and Massachusetts.”
According to NIFLA, a pro-life legal group that assists pregnancy centers, the so-called “ban” focuses on the language centers use to promote their services using legislation that the Supreme Court has already struck down in order to make it difficult for pregnancy centers to advertise based on false claims that they are “deceptive” because they offer to help women but do not do abortions.
In NIFLA v. Becerra, the U.S. Supreme Court found that state attempts to compel pro-abortion speech and advertising from pro-life pregnancy centers were unconstitutional. A;though they want to ban pregnancy centers, abortion activists cannot “ban the good work of pregnancy centers.”
Pregnancy resource centers have become a target of the pro-abortion movement in recent years. These community-based non-profits provide free pregnancy and parenting support to millions of people every year across the U.S. Their services typically include counseling, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, parenting classes, maternity and baby clothes, diapers and car seats. Some also offer medical services including well-women exams and STD testing and treatment. Many offer post-abortion counseling as well.
Contrary to abortion activists’ complaints, these pro-life non-profits provide accurate and compassionate information to pregnant mothers in need, often telling them what profit-focused abortion facilities will not – information about the development of their unborn baby, abortion risks, financial resources to help families in need, the abortion pill reversal treatment and more.
There are an estimated 3,000 pro-life pregnancy centers across the United States. Research by the Charlotte Lozier Institute found these centers served about 2 million people in 2019, providing more than 730,000 pregnancy tests, nearly half a million ultrasounds, 1.3 million packs of diapers and more than 2 million baby outfits.
