Pregnancy centers in the U.S. are experiencing an increase in the number of clients each month due to the crisis at the southern border.
Some migrant clients come for a pregnancy test, others come for maternity or baby clothes, and of course diapers are in demand.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
As a pregnancy center counselor, myself, I saw an enormous increase in the number of clients we've been serving in our Long Island center over the past year-and-a-half. Naturally, that's meant an increased need for everything from pregnancy tests to car seats. We’ve added a new Spanish-speaking staff member to take phone calls and speak to clients.
I wondered how other centers - especially those near the border - were being impacted. I called around to several centers in border states, asking if they've needed to be open more hours or days; hire more Spanish-speaking people; do more fundraising or collecting of baby items, etc.
"We are seeing these women, especially from Cuba and Guatemala right now," shared Jo Markham, director of Agape Pregnancy Center in Austin, Texas. "They are traumatized. We had two last month who had been raped during their trek across the border. We just located a Spanish-speaking counselor to begin offering free services to these women."
In Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield Pregnancy Center has been greatly impacted.
Director Erin Rogers shared what they are seeing.
"It's been affecting our center,” she said. “It’s been overwhelming where we are experiencing more Spanish-speaking clients calling asking for appointments for pregnancy tests and material assistance.”
“We are getting more calls from OB hospitals in need of diapers, wipes, cribs and car seats for patients that are being discharged and don’t have anything for their babies,” Rogers said. “We are in need of more Spanish-speaking staff and volunteers and more donations."
Rogers’s center is now seeing a lot of girls from Guatemala and Cuba, and she said that trauma is a really big thing.
“Our client advocates have been in tears with some of these stories they're hearing,” she said. “We've had to find a Spanish-speaking counselor to work with some of the girls.”
No matter how you feel politically about the border crisis, Rogers said, these women are here.
“They're here and we have to help them,” she said.
Most are coming for a pregnancy test, said Rogers. Some are planning to abort, and they have to have an ultrasound to know how far along they are.
In Springerville, Ariz., and the surrounding area, Living Hope Centers have felt the impact too.
"Our centers are located in a very rural, remote location,” said Angela Herst, assistant director. “Any clients we see who could be illegal immigrants are Hispanic and often travel here because they have family living here."
"Typically, they hear about our PRCs through their family or friends and need material support through baby and maternity supplies,” said Herst. “They are afraid of going to any agency for help due to potentially being reported and will come to us instead.”
“Often, they choose to parent, I think because their Catholic faith influences their positive view of children and family is very important in their culture,” she said. “So, if a young girl is pregnant, her family will support her in whatever way they can."
First Choice Pregnancy Center in Indianapolis reports, "a huge influx of mostly Haitian Creole" clients to their material aid center. They received a request for help from Catholic Charities who said they were dealing with 14,000 Haitian Creole clients arriving in the area.
Some are getting pregnant purposely to get accepted across border because they know they'll be waved right in, First Choice reports. This is a concerning issue in terms of receiving pre-natal care, eating right, and taking prenatal vitamins, as well as their plans for the child.
On Long Island, Women First Pregnancy Options has seen the number of clients jump from an average of 55-65 a month to 85-100 per month.
More people to assist with various situations naturally means a far busier center.
Not long ago a 17-year-old girl from El Salvador came into Women First for a pregnancy test. It was negative.
While center Director Veronica Reyes consulted with the young woman, she noticed her arm was very red and swollen, indicating an infection. The client explained that she had a contraceptive implant put in, something all the girls ages 12 and up who were coming across the border were advised to get. They were told to expect to be raped. Fortunately, Veronica knew where to send this woman to have the implant removed and treat the infection.
At the same center, a man brought in three people who were heading into Planned Parenthood.
A middle-aged woman was bringing her 13-year-old daughter, along with the daughter’s newborn baby, to get contraception for the 13-year-old.
The woman said, “She’s going to be start going middle school soon so of course she needs contraception.”
She explained that her two-month-old granddaughter was born when her daughter was 12, before they came across the border. Shockingly, she shared that the baby’s father was a 42-year-old man who was in Guatemala.
This family learned about the benefits of abstinence and the risks of contraception and learned all about Planned Parenthood’s motives.
Having almost nothing for the baby, the mom and grandmother were thrilled to be given bassinet, stroller, diapers, and clothes for the baby, encouraged to go to church, and told that they could come in again in three months for more clothes and diapers.
These are some of situations stemming from the border crisis that pregnancy centers are ready and able to assist with, but they continually need support to meet the needs of these women and families.
This was affirmed by the director of Affiliate Services for Heartbeat International, the largest network of pregnancy help in the U.S. and the world.
"The centers that are ministering to these young girls, women, and families are providing the core of what pregnancy help is about,” said Beth Diemert. “They provide practical help, but really so much more.”
“They address the needs of the whole person, so often very difficult to do in these severe situations,” Diemert said. “This is where the center or clinic partnering with churches and community organizations is vital.”
“Secondary trauma felt by staff and volunteers also needs to be monitored and ministered to with good self-care protocols,” she added.
“Above all,” Diemert said, ‘the entire pregnancy help community needs to be praying for the centers and clients."
Tweet This: Above all, the entire pregnancy help community needs to be praying for the centers and clients.
