When Diana Organowska walked into Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center in New Jersey, unexpectedly pregnant at age 20, she didn’t know she had the strength or desire to change the trajectory of her life.
“I was young. I was in a [college] speech pathology program that was very difficult to get into. A baby was not in the plan at the moment,” Ms. Organowska, of Bergen County, New Jersey, told The Epoch Times. “I just needed some kind of support, and I didn’t know what kind I needed.”
Pro-abortion activists are worried that women such as Ms. Organowska will be bamboozled by visiting pregnancy resource centers and be tricked into having unwanted babies. They have gone beyond arguing for a pregnant woman’s right to end the life of her unborn baby, and now, through policies and legislation, are working to discredit pregnancy resource centers that offer only life-affirming alternatives.
“I would say that is very misleading, what [pro-abortion activists] are saying. When I came into Lighthouse, I was definitely scared. But they were welcoming. They didn’t push anything on me,” Ms. Organowska said.
She was hesitant to make her first visit to Lighthouse.
“I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to even think about it.’” But her sister told her that if she didn’t like it, she could just leave.
Anti-Resource Movement
The temperature surrounding the abortion debate always rises before a national election, and since the June 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, things have become more heated. Among the fronts on which pro-abortion activists are fighting, the movement against pregnancy resource centers has picked up steam.Guttmacher calls for policies that restrict “anti-abortion centers.”
Once called “crisis pregnancy centers,” the centers themselves have moved away from the word “crisis” and now call themselves “pregnancy resource centers.” Pro-abortion activists still use the term “crisis” and have more recently started calling them “anti-abortion centers.”
“Commonly known as crisis pregnancy centers, anti-abortion centers often target people with few financial resources by providing free but very limited pregnancy services, like pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, and routinely offering false information to delay or interfere with access to abortion services,” the Guttmacher report said.
“These centers are usually affiliated with national anti-abortion organizations, evangelical Christian networks or other religious organizations. In some states, these centers also receive public funding. Since 2010, at least 13 states have provided a total of $495 million to these centers. Restricting anti-abortion centers is critical to halting the spread of abortion misinformation and ensuring people can access compassionate and accurate sexual and reproductive health care. Anti-abortion centers have been insulated from most state and federal action because of protections for speech under the First Amendment.”
States Pull Funding
In 2022, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, vetoed $1.5 million that the Republican-led state Legislature had allocated for pregnancy resource centers in the state budget.
In August, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat, defunded the nonprofit Real Alternatives, which for 30 years has administered the life-affirming Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services program for the state, including funding pregnancy resource centers.
The Guttmacher report also calls for laws requiring pregnancy centers to disclose that they do not offer abortion or contraceptive services and, if applicable, that they do not have medically trained staff on‐site.
The report calls for the enforcement of state consumer protection laws that prohibit false advertising or deceptive practices by service providers and require the provision of medically accurate information. It also calls for states to promote and fund public education campaigns about the risks of “anti-abortion centers” and their practices.
Warning: May Offer Diapers
Last year, New Jersey Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy created the Reproductive Rights Strike Force, which recommended the state file a consumer alert warning that pregnancy resource centers engaged in deceptive practices because they didn’t refer for abortions.
“WARNING: Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) do NOT provide abortion care. CPCs are organizations that seek to prevent people from accessing comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care and contraception,” the alert reads.
The consumer alert reads, “A Crisis Pregnancy Center may: Offer free services, including pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and adoption information, or supplies including diapers and baby clothes to individuals seeking abortion.”
The alert includes a consumer hotline for anyone who believes they are a victim of fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, or unlawful conduct at a pregnancy center.
Members of the New Jersey Consortium of Pregnancy Centers discussed the alert, and none had any complaints made against them, so in December, Monmouth County attorney Eileen S. Den Bleyker made a records request to the state, asking for information about complaints that would have prompted the alert. The records request became a legal battle and, even after a judge ordered the state to provide records by July 31, the state has refused to provide records.
They will be back in court again on Aug. 25.
“Usually when an industry is doing something, you know, that’s questionable, the government works with the industry to correct the problem, not just trash it and say, ‘don’t buy those products anymore,’” Den Bleyker told The Epoch Times.
“We asked for specific records, one of which was copies of any complaints made against pregnancy centers in New Jersey. And they did respond to that, saying no records exist, they have no complaints. We also asked for copies of investigations. Maybe there was an investigation, I would assume done, if there was a problem somebody perceived. There must have been an investigation. We asked for copies of investigations. And that’s what they denied us access to.
Complaint Form
These attacks on pregnancy resource centers aren’t new.“Crisis pregnancy centers have been found to engage in unfair or deceptive practices concerning the scope of their services,” the report reads. “The goal of crisis pregnancy centers is to prevent women from obtaining abortions. They typically hold themselves out as offering free pregnancy tests, as well as complete and accurate information about the range of options available to women facing unintended pregnancies. In fact, however, they refuse to counsel about abortions as an alternative to pregnancy.”
In 2017, Planned Parenthood of New York City testified to the city council against pregnancy resource centers, saying they engage in “deceptive tactics” that can “delay time-sensitive medical care and prevent individuals from accessing critical reproductive services.”
The hearing called for regulating centers and advocated for the development of a consumer complaint form.
Recently, opposition to the centers has become more organized.
The form asks women to report whether a pregnancy center has falsely indicated that its staff includes licensed medical professionals, falsely indicated that the center offered abortion services or referrals, or provided false information about a pregnancy, such as how far along the pregnancy was.
SAD Federal Legislation
Proposed federal law also frames pregnancy resource centers as bad actors.
The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit deceptive or misleading advertising related to the provision of abortion services and to collect penalties from organizations in violation.
“Each year, thousands of pregnant people seeking objective and medically sound reproductive health care end up walking into crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), who falsely and deliberately advertise themselves as comprehensive reproductive health care providers, yet, their intent is to discourage pregnant people from having abortions,” Mr. Menendez said in an April statement announcing the bill.
His office didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
Hurting Women
Brandi Swindell is the founder and CEO of Stanton Healthcare, a network of life-affirming medical clinics.
“There is no deception,” Ms. Swindell told The Epoch Times. “I think it’s just really interesting and shows the hypocrisy and the double standard, that in one breath, the pro-choice movement says that women are strong, empowered, brave, smart, intelligent, and can do anything, and then in the next breath, they say that women are totally manipulated, are fumbling around because they’re so deceived into going into pregnancy centers that they can’t receive data and information and determine in their heart what’s right for them.”
Ms. Swindell said the pro-abortion lobby doesn’t understand the latest generation of women, whom she described as “very savvy.”
“They know how to get information, they know how to process it. And they know how to make decisions,” she said.
Based in Idaho and with affiliates across the United States and internationally, Stanton Healthcare specializes in serving women with unexpected pregnancies by providing free, life-affirming professional medical care, practical and emotional support, women’s wellness care, and an outreach to refugee and marginalized communities.
Choosing Stanton Over Planned Parenthood
Stanton creates unwanted competition for the prenatal health care dollar, often buying real estate and setting up shop directly next door to abortion facilities or parking its free mobile clinic on the street in front of Planned Parenthood, which charges between $600 and $2,000 for an abortion.Pregnant women sometimes skip their abortion appointments and get another kind of care.
“We are a licensed medical clinic. We have an M.D. that oversees our medical operations—the ultrasounds, the exams, and all of that—client advocacy, client counseling,” Ms. Swindell told The Epoch Times.
“Then we have a physician assistant, a P.A., who is our director of client care services. We do well-women exams, STD testing and treatment, and an extra level that Stanton Healthcare has: We are third party accredited.”
Ms. Swindell said it took Stanton about two years to receive the third-party accreditation.
“That means we operate with the gold standard in medical excellence,” she said.
This level of medical care is not available at all pregnancy centers, but even Stanton has been called a “fake clinic” by pro-abortion advocates.
“There has never been a woman that has died because of going to a pregnancy center. Give me the data, the evidence, of women that have experienced complications. It doesn’t exist. And it does exist at their [abortion] clinics,” Ms. Swindell said.
Women Want Alternatives
“Women are seeking the services of pregnancy centers and life affirming medical clinics. They want this type of care. These are the same women that that Planned Parenthood serves. These are women considering abortion, and they end up walking through our doors.” Ms. Swindell said.She said abortion providers have never been about providing quality care and choices for women.
“That’s why we saw, when Roe was overturned, [some] Planned Parenthood abortion clinics shut down,” Ms. Swindell said. “They didn’t stay open to continue to provide support. They closed down because they couldn’t provide the only support they believe in, and that is abortion on demand. This is exposing the abortion industry and the abortion lobby. They only believe in one choice, and that’s abortion, and they will stop at nothing to bully women and prevent them from accessing the services found at pregnancy centers.”
The public isn’t buying the attack on pregnancy centers so far, she says, but the abortion industry is organized, aggressive, and well-funded.
Ms. Swindell said she expects them to fine-tune these attacks until they are successful.
“We’re not going to let that happen. We’re not going to flinch. Our client load has increased. So even with this national marketing campaign to try and bully and deceive women from coming into our centers, to tarnish our reputation, and mischaracterize us, it’s not working. There’s too many women that have experienced the compassionate care and quality services provided in pregnancy centers and life-affirming medical clinics. The word of mouth is too strong.
“You want to know who some of our biggest defenders have been? It’s the women themselves that have experienced an unexpected pregnancy and have walked through our doors and received professional, quality, compassionate, medical services, and it’s been life-changing for them.”
Life-Changing
Ms. Organowska decided to have her baby boy.
She became a single mother. It wasn’t easy. He was fussy with colic, and later, he had some behavioral issues.
“That kind of chose my career path. I became a behaviorist for that reason. And now, looking back, I can’t imagine being a speech pathologist like I really wanted to before I got pregnant. That was my dream. God had other plans, and they were great plans because they really made me the person that I am,” Ms. Organowska said.
She worked hard and graduated from college. Today her son is 7 years old.
“Now as a professional, I’m able to relate to parents, as a parent and a professional, because I have that son that had some kind of behavioral problems and did have so much energy. So when these parents come to me and they tell me all these things, I know how to approach the situation in a compassionate way, because I went through it myself.”
For women who decide to have an abortion, Lighthouse and other pregnancy resource centers offer support groups to work through the physical, mental, and emotional effects.
“Lighthouse or any kind of these pregnancy resource places, they are open and they are welcoming to even people who had abortions and want to have that support and need that support. No matter what decision you choose, you need support for it,” Ms. Organowska said.
Society adds pressure to women making them doubt that they can balance full-time work and home life, Ms. Organowska said, but it can be done.
“You can make it work. It’s possible. People may think it’s impossible, but if you want to do something with your life, you can,” she said.
Ms. Organowska, now 29, said it feels empowering and liberating today to look back at her progress from age 20, scared and pregnant, to where she is now.
“I was this scared girl who was so young, thinking I ruined my life. And years later, I am a successful mom. Now my child can look up to me and say, ‘Wow, Mom, you did all of these things while you were pregnant, while you were scared. You pushed yourself and you got it. You persevered and now you’re successful,’” she said.
“I think those things are really important for young moms to see when they are pregnant, struggling, and they feel like it’s over. It’s not. You can do it.”
