Wherever I go, I want to remind those in the pregnancy help community that the trends are going in our direction.
The number of abortion centers is dropping, while the number of pregnancy help organizations is rising.
Is the abortion rate dropping? With the morning after pill and chemical abortion so readily available, it’s not easy to tell. But again, trends. The trends keep pointing our way. Something is happening out there; anecdotal evidence of our growing influence in the culture keeps popping up.
Just before I sat down to write this, I got a text from the northeast where a pregnancy help center director telling me that a local Planned Parenthood suddenly has a “CLOSED” sign on its door. She’s not sure whether the clinic moved or is shuttering operations, but a closing would not surprise any of us. Planned Parenthood may have lobbyists and a ton of cash, but it is in trouble.
At the same time, we’re growing.
Case in point? Last week’s column mentioned a center in Texas and its new facility. A day or two later we received an email at Pregnancy Help News; a center in California (more on that soon) is making a move into a larger facility.
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And there is more. Last week I was at another California center, in Torrance. At the event for the Pregnancy Help Center, they announced plans for a capital campaign and a new facility which will more than triple the size of their current home.
A few days later I was in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where—you guessed it—the Women’s Pregnancy Center recently moved into . . . a new home where they are more effectively reaching their target audience.
It’s the same thing at a center in the southeast, where yet another pregnancy help organization is about to announce a move that will triple its size.
None of this is showing up on CNN, MSNBC or the major networks, of course. They aren’t looking for this.
Is it a true trend, or am I just finding anecdotal evidence? I don’t know, but when I ran a quick check of the 19 centers I’ve visited in the last eight weeks, 13 have either moved in the last two years, are planning on a move soon or are renovating current facilities to add square footage.
Tweet This: #PlannedParenthood is in trouble, but #prolife centers are trending upward. @KirkWalden
This isn’t to say that two of every three pregnancy help organizations is in growth or moving mode; this is not a representative sample, I’m sure. But as I’m seeing this pop up in all parts of the country, I can’t help but believe we have a trend.
Our ministries and organizations aren’t growing because they suddenly found a few dollars and want to spend them; the growth is because we are outgrowing our current facilities. We are adding services and as a result, seeing growth in client visits.
As a child I remember our family vacations and asking the inevitable kid question, “Are we there yet?” My dad had a variety of answers from “five more minutes” to, “we’re getting closer.”
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Today, the “Are we there yet” question for pregnancy help ministries is whether we are strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the giants of the abortion industry. Once we answer that question with a resounding “YES,” we are ready to defeat them.
And a key piece of the puzzle is to have facilities that not only rival, but surpass those of the abortion industry. Our homes must be more comfortable, more professional and more inviting.
I’ve seen the web sites of our competition. I’ve seen the outside of many abortion centers. And I’ve also been fortunate enough to walk through literally hundreds of our centers. We’ve got many that are so far ahead of the competition, it’s not even close. And others, as I’ve seen throughout the fall, are getting even better.
And the better news? Everywhere I go, I hear people coming up to me with a new fervency, a new urgency to get involved in our work. The Planned Parenthood videos are having an impact, creating a desire in our people to give more, to zero in on what we are doing to shift a culture toward life.
Tweet This: #prolife pregnancy ctrs are so far ahead of #PlannedParenthood, it's not even close. @KirkWalden
So, “Are we there yet?” From this vantage point, we’re a lot closer than we might imagine.
Kirk Walden is a senior writer with Pregnancy Help News, an Advancement Specialist with Heartbeat International and author of The Wall. For banquet speaking engagements,
