Pregnancy Help Clinic in Michigan is celebrating 50 years of providing hope, compassion, education, and care for women in the southeastern area of the state.
An anniversary event is planned for April 4 that will highlight the center’s legacy, Executive Director Shari Boley told Pregnancy Help News.
“Being in the community for 50 years, we’re capturing as many legacy stories as possible, and that’s exciting,” she said. “We’re making an effort to reach out to moms and grandmoms that have been impacted by Pregnancy Help Clinic.”
“We’re calling our celebration A Legacy of Hope,” Boley added. “The first mom who came through our doors is potentially a grandmother now. That first baby would be 49 years old. Wouldn’t it be great to see all those people there?”
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Additionally, the organization plans to honor those who launched the Pregnancy Help Clinic.
“We’re really trying to give honor to the people who started the organization and created such a great foundation,” Boley said.
Videos of past families served as well as one about the history of the center are being created to show that night, she added.
Hope in an abortion state
Michigan is an abortion state. The ‘right’ to abortion is enshrined in the state’s constitution and Governor Gretchen Witmer is known for her pro-abortion stance. In late 2023, Witmer signed the so-called Reproductive Health Act and repealed abortion restrictions.
According to the Charlotte-Lozier Institute (CLI), more than 31,200 abortions were performed in Michigan in 2023. Abortion statistics will no longer be provided for the state because of a law passed by the Michigan legislature in the fall of 2023.
The CLI report indicates the abortion rate in Michigan for 2023 rose 3.7 percent from 2022 and chemical abortions climbed 10 percent.
Pregnancy Help Clinic counters the abortion narrative by meeting the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancies at three venues: two brick-and-mortar locations, one in Brighton and the other in Flint, and a mobile unit that travels to Ann Abor and Lansing. The clinic does not use client advocates. Instead, registered nurses provide all the services. Additionally, a nurse practitioner works at the Brighton location and a doctor serves at the Flint clinic. A nurse and a registered diagnostic medical sonographer (RDMS) serve on the mobile unit. The organization has a medical director who oversees the medical aspects of all three locations.
The Flint location opened in 2022, and the mobile unit began services in January 2025. The traveling medical unit and the two stationary facilities provide the same medical offerings, including STI testing and Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), Boley said. The Flint and Brighton sites offer parenting programs, including long-term mentoring until the child is three years old.
It is a critical approach to have medical staff oversee the entire first appointment.
“That was really important to us because pregnancy centers get accused of being fake clinics,” Boley told Pregnancy Help News. “We can be unapologetically pro-life, but we are absolutely following best practices when it comes to patient care.”
Boley and her staff collaborate with pregnancy centers to bring the mobile unit to larger communities.
“We always want to enhance what’s being done,” she said, “so we can all be stronger and better together at what we’re doing.”
Pregnancy help and hope
The theme of hope weaves through each opportunity she and the staff and board take on.
“Our motto is ‘Where Help Meets Hope,’” Boley said.
The addition of a second location was “a leap of faith” taken when another group decided the task was too overwhelming, Boley said.
“There was a lot of research put into that, including having the building checked from top to bottom, and it became very clear that doors were opening,” she said. “We saw our opportunity to grow in hope, and so that was the campaign,” said Boley.
Providing APR also offers hope. The Pregnancy Help Clinic began offering this service nearly five years ago, and as a result 11 lives have been saved from abortion.
One of the clinic’s APR moms spoke at the clinic’s fall fundraiser last year. After taking the first pill in the chemical abortion regimen while in college, the young woman panicked.
“She reached out to the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN), which connected her with our nurse practitioner. Our medical staff will respond immediately,” said Boley. “They’ll come in nights and weekends to meet with patients and help them start the reversal protocol.”
Pregnancy Help Clinic staff continued to see the APR client before turning her over to OB care, she said.
“It’s wonderful!” Boley said of the mom’s appearance at the clinic’s event. “We had both dad and mom that shared their perspective of the whole process.”
Making an impact
Last year, the Pregnancy Help Clinic served 369 new clients and saw the majority (278) choose life. Additionally, 577 families received support, including more than 41,000 diapers given away.
Boley has served at the center since 1999. She initially worked as Program Director and in early 2016 she took the helm as Executive Director.
“It’s always been to have a clear mission and a clear vision, knowing what God has called us to do as a ministry,” she said. “We know where God guides, God provides.”
Steering into a new chapter during this jubilee year, with potential future expansions such as the mobile unit traveling five days a week, Boley and her team continue to dream and partner with others, awaiting God’s direction.
“Our vision is to empower parents to choose life with our mission of offering care, education, and hope to women in their pregnancy and life journey,” she said. “With that clear goal, I know more is going to happen. We just continue to stay the course and stay focused on our calling, and the opportunities seem to find us.”
Tweet This: Our vision is to empower parents to choose life with our mission of offering care, education, and hope to women in their pregnancy journey.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about APR.
