The executive director of the largest pregnancy center in Florida said he believes politics is not the answer to stop the progression of abortion.
It’s been a little over a year since the Florida legislature passed its Heartbeat Bill which put a stop to all abortions beyond the six-week gestational stage when a heartbeat is detected. The law went into effect May 1.
One might assume Planned Parenthood has empty clinics and pregnancy centers should see an increase in women seeking help.
The first two weeks in May has shown just the opposite, according to Scott Baier, executive director of Community Pregnancy Clinics (CPC).
CPC serves Naples, Ft. Myers, Sarasota, and Gainesville, and operates two mobile clinics.
“We have not seen a huge uptick,” Baier told Pregnancy Help News during a phone interview. “But I’m being told that at Planned Parenthood in Fort Myers and Sarasota they are seeing more (clients).”
While it’s still early in the process, Baier said things could change. However, he said pregnancy centers in the state need to be ready to serve regardless of what the government decides.
Baier called it a “hard pill to swallow for pro-lifers” because the Florida Heartbeat Bill did more than limit the ability for a woman to get an abortion. It allowed some loopholes, he said.
“There are exceptions to it that you can drive a truck through,” Baier said.
Baier pointed out the law allows women to have abortions if they are victims of incest, rape, or trafficking. However, documentation of these crimes is not necessary to prove they occurred. No doctor’s signature and no police report are needed to prove a woman was raped or trafficked. It is simply her word.
And the law’s very existence is at risk, Baier said.
This fall, an initiative will be on the Florida ballot that could erase the foundations of the Heartbeat Bill.
Amendment Four, which Republicans stressed “dramatically expands and legalizes the systemic killing of unborn babies,” will give voters a chance to determine if legislation like the Heartbeat Bill should remain intact.
“All health restrictions (as well as) the six-week ban go off the books,” Bair said. “It removes parental consent; they just require notification of parents.”
Baer said his centers are shifting their focus during this fight.
CPC sees thousands of clients and is the largest and oldest pregnancy help center in the state. Pam Stenzel, sexual integrity speaker, works with Baer’s centers directly as they educate young women on STDs and avoiding toxic relationships.
“We’re all about prevention,” Baier said.
Stenzel, he said, is working with college students as they speak to high school students about sex.
“We’re forming an army of ambassadors here in Florida,” said Baer.
Marketing is another focus for the centers, he said, and digital marketing and Google ads are aimed at the woman who is “in a hurry.”
“We’re trying to slow them down,” Baer said.
As the word gets out to women seeking abortion that centers like CPC are pro-life, they tend to run the opposite direction, Baier said. The goal is to help women see the need for an ultrasound. He noted how Planned Parenthood often does not allow clients to view the screen.
Baier pointed to states whom are, he says, getting it right with legislation, citing Tennessee and the Baby Olivia Bill .
Pregnancy centers need to continue to be a resource and tell their legislators what they need, he said.
Baier is hopeful government leaders will get more specific as they write legislation.
“The law needs to teach people,” he said. “Politics is not going to stop the battle.”
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