An event in Brookline yesterday signaled that the time has come: Each of us must do what we can to protect our pregnancy resource centers – now. Here’s why.
A year ago, the legislature approved, and Governor Healey signed, a supplemental budget that included $1 million to disparage our pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). Yesterday, we learned specifically how that money will be used.
Standing in front of a Brookline abortion clinic, Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein announced the launch of a public awareness campaign that will spread multiple inaccurate claims (AKA lies) about PRCs. The statewide effort will include billboards, social media, radio and transit. It was developed in partnership with Reproductive Equity Now, formerly NARAL.
Goldstein said that “anti-abortion centers . . . pose a significant risk to the health and well-being of those seeking help, support, and options” and that he feels “compelled to push back as hard as possible.”
In response to requests for comment from numerous media outlets, The Pregnancy Care Alliance (PCAll), which Massachusetts Citizens for Life initiated and invested in last year, in anticipation of state-led attacks, issued the following statement:
"Massachusetts' network of pregnancy care centers provides millions of dollars in no-cost support and care for thousands of women annually who face planned and unplanned pregnancies, with services ranging from pregnancy confirmation services, parenting education, and community referrals to material goods like diapers and formula. The women served by pregnancy resource centers overwhelmingly report a positive experience, yet the Healey Administration and other politicians in the state are furthering their extreme abortion agenda by using a taxpayer-funded campaign to discredit our centers. This politically motivated campaign will negatively impact women the most, specifically the many women who want to parent and rely on the free assistance we provide.”
While Massachusetts Citizens for Life remains firmly and joyfully committed to its continued PCAll sponsorship, our organization simply cannot match the $1 million in taxpayer dollars that the state will pour into this ugly effort to eliminate choices women deserve. I am writing to you today with confidence that you will help us in our effort to raise one million for women. Know that 100% of your tax-deductible contribution to PCAll is considered a restricted PCAll gift.
Monetary gifts are not the only way you can help. There are four things you can do today to help save our pregnancy resource centers.
- Donate to the Pregnancy Care Alliance. Our PRCs cannot fight back against a million-dollar campaign without significant financial support. The abortion industry and Reproductive Equity Now can tap into state funds. We are relying on you and humbly ask you to give what you can.
- If you have not yet done so, add your name to our petition, which calls on Governor Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, each state senator and representative, as well as DPH Commissioner Goldstein, to not only withdraw all attempts to thwart the work of our pregnancy centers but also to issue a public acknowledgment that these resources offer true choice to women and men. At our Celebration of Life Day on June 25, women helped by Massachusetts pregnancy centers will personally deliver hard copies of each petition throughout the State House and share their stories with legislators.
- Please share the petition with your network. We need thousands of signatures if we’re going to convince our friends on Beacon Hill that pregnancy centers are worth saving.
- Plan to attend our Celebration of Life Day. This family-friendly free event features leaders and staff members from our state’s pregnancy resource centers, nonprofit organizations with the sole mission of providing support to women in unexpected pregnancies or who are healing from abortion.
While pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics 3 to 1, fewer than 50% of Americans know what pregnancy resource centers are or how they offer the “choice” women deserve. Additionally, many more people are unaware of the attempts made by our elected leaders, well before yesterday’s Brookline announcement, to close these community resources. A summary of those unjustified efforts follows this message.
At the State House, you will learn the facts and leave with tools you can use to ensure that pregnancy resource centers near you remain available to our women and families. I encourage you to invite friends and family. Children are welcome, of course! hope you’ll join us. Check the PCAll website for details and our speaker lineup in the coming days.
Thank you in advance for all you will do to help our pregnancy resource centers and support women and families in need.
With gratitude,
Myrna
If you’re unfamiliar with the battle pregnancy centers have been fighting, here’s some context:
Despite providing material goods, healthcare and counseling services, the value of which exceeds tens of millions of dollars over the course of their history, more than 40 years, pregnancy centers have faced mounting pressure from the state, hindering their ability to effectively offer a life-affirming choice to women. There is one reason why: pregnancy resource centers threaten abortion industry bottom lines.
Senator Elizabeth Warren cut to the chase back in July 2022, publicly saying of pregnancy centers, “We need to shut them down.” Shortly after, then Attorney General Healey issued a consumer warning against pregnancy centers, which is still on the state’s website.
Because we work to reveal the truth, Massachusetts Citizens for Life filed a public records request with the Attorney General’s office in 2023. Results revealed that, in more than four decades of service to tens of thousands of clients, not one complaint of merit has ever been filed against a Massachusetts pregnancy center.
The most recent attempt to undermine our pregnancy centers occurred in January, this time from the Department of Public Health. In a memo to licensed medical pregnancy centers, the DPH commissioner warned not just centers but their physicians – even including a veiled threat of revoking doctors’ licenses. The commissioner warned pregnancy centers not to prescribe abortion pill reversal – a safe way to potentially rescue a baby if his mother changes her mind after taking the first abortion pill.
We were confused. We knew many women who had given birth because of abortion pill reversal and who were grateful for this choice! We had not heard of any woman encountering adverse issues. So, Massachusetts Citizens for Life filed another public records request.
The results? There have been no complaints filed against pregnancy centers that warranted the threatening memo from the Department of Public Health in January.
It is up to us to protect our pregnancy centers. Please sign, then share our petition today. Forward this link and paste the petition link on social media.