Mission:POSSIBLE

Mission: Possible!

The pregnancy help center movement is now over 50 years old and continues to stand the test of time. Beginning in the late 1960s, life-affirming pregnancy centers began opening their doors as abortion was becoming legal in the United States. In the mid to late 80s, centers began providing pregnancy confirmation ultrasound services to provide a window to the womb and help moms bond with their unborn babies. PDHC opened its doors on January 22, 1981, on the 8th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and joined forces with ultrasound services in 1995.

PDHC and many other centers have continued to grow and expand programs and services to further meet the needs of women and families in the community throughout the decades. PDHC’s growth has included four resource center locations, sexual risk avoidance and character development education beginning in 1984, after-abortion support programs in 1989, and abortion pill reversal services in late 2019. Also added was our Family Empowerment Center in late 2020. In a survey of 2,700 pregnancy centers around the United States in 2019, the estimated value of services provided by pregnancy resource centers was nearly $267 million in aid to women and families. *

 The mission of pregnancy centers like PDHC is not possible without God at the center of everything we do, along with a community of support from life-minded friends, prayer warriors, volunteers, passionate team members, and our wonderful church and community partnerships. We are thankful for this year’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24th, giving the power back to each state to pass laws to ban, sanction, or regulate abortion. But abortion is still available. Depending on their state laws, Individuals are crossing state lines and looking for alternatives to receive abortion services. Chemical abortions via the abortion pill are readily available online and represented 80% of abortions in Franklin County in 2020. * 

 The mission of PDHC continues and becomes even more critical than ever as we provide the resources families need in a post-Roe world. There will always be unexpected and challenging pregnancies, and women and their babies will still need love, hope, and practical help for healthy outcomes for their families. To accomplish this, we need to reach her first when she is on her phone during challenging circumstances and looking for help. Unfortunately, we are up against increasing efforts to censor pregnancy centers on Google. It is becoming necessary to spend more on Google Ads to get conversion rates. The abortion industry is targeting pregnancy centers as “Fake Clinics” and can spend much more in marketing dollars than what pregnancy resource centers are typically able to budget as non-profits. We need to continue growing and diversifying our efforts to compete against the abortion industry.

 Also, with this year’s events, pregnancy centers are experiencing increased threats from pro-abortion extremists. Many centers have been vandalized by graffiti with messages, “If abortion isn’t safe, neither are you,” fire-bombing, broken windows, destruction of property inside centers, social media attacks, and harassing phone calls. There have been times when special duty police officers are necessary. To further protect our centers, staff, volunteers, and the women who come to us for help, it was necessary for PDHC to install alarm systems with ongoing monthly security monitoring, panic buttons, and cameras at all five locations. We are currently working on a construction project that is needed at one of our centers to increase security.

 Despite these threats and with your help, PDHC will continue to meet the needs of women who are facing unexpected pregnancies as we have been doing for over 41 years. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and join us at our upcoming Celebration for Life galas to learn more about how you can help support us in these efforts and PDHC’s mission as we continue to stand the test of time.

 Mission: Possible!

Blessings,
Kathy

*Charlotte Lozier Institute
**Ohio Department of Health (ODH)