January 22, 2008 marked the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that finally “gave” women autonomy over their own bodies. Despite its presence for the last few decades, many voices are threatening to overturn this decision. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, for instance, does not consider abortion a privacy issue, and supports legislation that would give states the right to decide the legality of abortion. And in the past few weeks, I came across an interesting find that supports the pro-life struggle here in Ann Arbor.
Most people have heard of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), the organization that “delivers vital health care services, sex education, and sexual health information to millions of women, men, and young people”, according to PPFA’s website. PPFA is a pro-choice organization: it respects women’s right to make decisions about their own bodies, to express their sexuality, and to conduct family planning how they please. PPFA has a somewhat obscure competitor called Pregnancy Crisis Centers or Pregnancy Resource Centers. These organizations operate independently, with or without official religious affiliation, although most are staunchly pro-life and Christian. Most offer counseling or material goods (maternity clothes, baby formula) for women who face unwanted pregnancies or do not have the means to raise a child single-handedly.
The other day, I called a Pregnancy Resource Center (PRC) located in Livonia, Michigan to learn more about the organization. The receptionist on the phone told me that their center attempts to empower women with all of the information they need before making a decision regarding an unwanted pregnancy. The Livonia PRC supports women who decide to look into adoption or pregnancy, but not abortion. They provide medical information on abortions, but do not encourage it. So unlike PPFA, which does not have any underlying agenda besides providing support services and health information to women, (and supporting women if they do choose to have abortions), the Pregnancy Resource Center has its own agenda of dissuading women from their right to choose. Even though the center’s abortion information is ‘medical’ and not ‘graphic’, the PRC does not support women who choose to have abortions (it does not provide referrals, etc). The Pregnancy Resource Center also operates with an incentive- based program called Family Life and Resource Education (FLARE). By engaging in a variety of activities, women can earn ‘points’ which will then buy them free diapers, wipes, formula, and other necessities. These activities include taking parenting classes, staying in school, having a doula, and attending bible study or church services. I was shocked when I heard about this incentive-based program – I immediately asked if Christians then receive more points and therefore more supplies, to which the receptionist replied no, that bible study and church services were only a few of the many ways you could earn points, and that they do accept secular or non-Christians into the program. I did not go further to argue that maybe staying in school was not an easy option for all women, or that this program, while it may seem fair and open to all women, is actually exclusionary and attempts to further the agenda of the Christian right while claiming to support women during times of unwanted pregnancy.
The other day, I walked into a Pregnancy Help Center, located in a strip mall of mostly Middle Eastern grocery stores and restaurants on Packard Street in Ann Arbor. The lobby was filled with donated baby clothes, and a cross hung on the wall behind the front desk. A woman greeted me at the desk, and I spoke to her with the pretense that a friend of mine thought she may be pregnant. I told her that I came to pick up some information for her. This center, unlike the one in Livonia, is only for women who are currently pregnant and are planning on giving birth and either keeping the child or giving it up for adoption. The woman told me about the services that they offer (free clothing and ultrasounds, among others), and told me to pray for my friend. She also went on to caution me about Planned Parenthoods, telling me (and my ‘friend’) to never step through their doors, as they ‘do not give women all the options’, and focus only on ‘birth control and abortion’. While PPFA did begin as the National Birth Control League in the early twentieth century, it does not solely perform abortions. Many Planned Parenthood clinics screen for breast, cervical, and testicular cancer, and they offer pregnancy testing and counseling options, as well as emergency contraception.
The accusation forwarded by some pro-life groups that clinics like Planned Parenthood are ‘pro-abortion’ is entirely unfounded. It has been repeatedly noted that “pro-choice” does not mean “pro-abortion”, and this statement remains true. “Pro-choice” simply means that a woman has the right to make decisions regarding her own body and sexuality, and it covers a wide range of areas. To me, pro-choice means that all women should have the right to birth control, the right to express their sexuality how they want and with whom they want, as well as the right to sufficient and comprehensive reproductive health care. My pro-choice vision, however, has yet to be realized.
In a brochure I picked up from the Pregnancy Help Center, I came across a section that stated the need for volunteers in performing abstinence presentations. Abstinence-only programs, however,contribute to the actual need for places like Pregnancy Resource Centers in the first place by not offering comprehensive information about different forms of birth control. That goes without saying that abstinence-only programs generally provide misinformation, and stifle sexual health by discouraging masturbation and contraception, and condemning homosexuality.
After visiting the Pregnancy Help Center and talking with the Pregnancy Resource Center on the phone, I have thought a lot about the agendas behind such places. While I don’t agree with their ideologies or how they operate, especially the incentive-based program of the Pregnancy Resource Center, I do think they deserve some credit. They do provide counseling and essential items like maternity clothes to pregnant women who cannot afford them. I also do think that doula referral is a great thing for pregnant women who choose to have their child. However, by disregarding the option of abortion or by discouraging it in their counseling sessions, regardless of the woman’s health or other socioeconomic circumstances, these centers do not value women’s health first. Because many of these centers operate from a religious platform, they often do not take into account the realities of sexuality today, including the risks of pregnancy, STIs, and HIV/AIDS that abstinence only education neglects to address.
If we want to put women’s health first as a society, then we need to consider the realities of STIs and the inadequacy of abstinence-only programs. We also must allow women themselves to be the decision-makers regarding their own sexual and reproductive health. While Pregnancy Help Centers support women who do want to have children, they operate from a specific political and religious platform that fails to acknowledge the different needs, desires, and circumstances that women have during unwanted pregnancies.