The Changing Face Of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

You got the whole sanctity of human life. Sunday the 15th you know, I'm not sure the ring and what I do know when you are to do that. He sibling that we usually do a big story bunch of stories on that in your also going to start the timer so I know you doing here okay so I'm good to do an intro to each of the each of our sections and so here we go hi this is Tracy Griggs, director of communications for NC family sitting in this week for John Reston.

I'm delighted to welcome our guest today who I followed and admired for many years as a lifelong leader in the pregnancy center movement Melinda Della Hoyt served for many years as president of CareNet, one of the nation's largest and oldest networks of pregnancy centers. She is currently vice president for global org for a global organization called mission advancement for life international and not one to lose touch with the importance of local pregnancy centers as the hub of the pro-life movement. Melinda recently agreed to serve as president of Gateway pregnancy Center in Raleigh which is located within a few miles of five college campuses were going to make a two week discussion out of this since Melinda has a valuable perspective on two things that we, in particular, want to talk about first.

She has been on the front row witnessing and influencing some important trends in pregnancy care centers over the past decade, and second, she has some insight on some frightening things that are just beginning to happen across the country in regard to abortion pills.

There is a push to make these easily accessible to younger and younger girls and to minimize Dr. involvement in the process. Melinda welcome to family policy matters. Thank you, great, great to be here with everybody. Melinda, you have a lifetime of hands-on experience with pregnancy care centers tell us a little bit about what practically speaking, pregnancy centers do and how they serve their communities and why they are an important piece to the pro-life puzzle really helpful and really amazing when we look back over 40 years plus Roe V Wade decision came down in 1973 and legalized abortion. I think it's great to be able to look back and really see how God logo on people bring compassion, healing and help in this issue of abortion, both for the unborn baby and for the woman facing that unplanned pregnancy and as I tell the story around the country.

It is always such an encouragement to believers to those who embrace the Judeo-Christian view of the sanctity of every human life to realize that in 1973 when the Supreme Court into decision in one day brought legalized abortion to America. There were no pregnancy there with her was really almost no response. This is a not totally unexpected but only an absolutely shocking decision from the Supreme Court at that time I had graduated from seminary and was serving on one of the national board of evangelical were involved in social action and it was the issue around which all our heart and our minds gravitated, what do we do now and we have thought well it's the lobby and the education and particularly the education of evangelical because our Catholic brothers and sisters have been carrying this load for years and really needed evangelicals to step in and do the part to protect lives to help women whatever it might be.

So we were sitting on the board and literally we would get hundreds of letters from people all over the country from big towns, small-town cities, stubbornness, whatever it might be.

They were all believers and they were Christian and this was the question all. It started with. We know that abortion is wrong and we know what Ruby Wade has brought to our country, but what we do to help women in our community to choose what for their babies and for themselves.

How do we show compassion. How do we care for them and it was really out of those letters coming to our board in Washington DC and two other two Francis Schaeffer to Dr. C. Everett, who to others who realized what was happening the same question with being it was that that literally raised up hundred thousand communities around the country is people from churches all over those communities and others wanted to be involved, and we will come together and we will still life will have a place for that woman to come and we will provide help and will provide hope for her and we will yet we want that baby to live and we want that woman to understand that she does not have to have abortion and that was really the beginning of the CareNet pregnancy network which now has around 1200 pregnancy center and so many other independent centers. It was not some kind of centralized business plan out of Washington DC.

It was literally God speaking to the hearts of the people and saying I want you to help.

This is what Christians do what Christians have done through the age and here was a new sort of vineyard in which to work and it was a life out of that has come. Pregnancy centers like Gateway campus here in Raleigh. Other centers emerging in our own city, North Carolina.

There are approximately 68 pregnancy below and if so, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, many states have vast network of pregnancy but it started and it kept telling because of God speaking to his people. People respond so is is it important then the model of the way that these centers have operated quietly in communities almost under the radar. In some instances is that an important component to the whole pro-life movement. Do you think I think that that active component.

Although we would have to say that pregnancy centers are now the number one target of the abortion movement. I think it's precisely because they have been so effective at the grassroots level and and they've been very versatile in that they have responded to the unique needs of their community there all independent 501(c)(3) with their own board and they are tuned in to what the needs of their community are so I think that that model has changed it decade because when pregnancy center started you could get a free pregnancy test anywhere. Well, that's certainly changed and now you know with the vast preponderance of digital technology and what's available to us. Almost all pregnancy centers now are going online with a strong presence to reach that abortion minded woman so and that's very important because we know that when she first finds out or thinks she might be pregnant, she will go to her phone. So go to her iPad and show Google words like abortion provider.

Am I pregnant.

All these different phrases and words and literally we want to find her first we do not want her to go to organizations like Planned Parenthood. First, so technology has become a huge tool within the pregnancy. So I would say that it's been very helpful for pregnancy centers, not the centralized but decentralized under an affiliation umbrella but able to work within their communities to meet the unique needs of the okay so you've alluded to a couple of of of things. One is the fact that that many of these local pregnancy centers are moving a little bit more toward a medical services model. How often are you seeing that in. Is that important movement. Oh, I think probably at least have of I know of our medical they provide limited medical service and ultrasound are extremely important.

We know that if a woman and her partner alone or together see that ultrasound image of their baby. There is a 60 to 70% chance that they will choose what so ultrasound is also an amazing tool that pregnancy centers have been able to utilize so in Gateway Center in Raleigh.

You'll see sonographers you'll see nurses have a medical director.

You will see medical staff every day, and for most if not all the hours but that center is open because that's become very important tool for women facing an unplanned pregnancy and STD STI testing which we also do at Gateway and many centers do that on the preventative end of things, but it such an epidemic along women who are at the highest risk of having abortion that it only makes sense if you're doing not testing and able to talk with them and build that relationship. Offer them a pregnancy test at the same time and and let them use the medical tools that we have two to give her information and resources but she need not understand you have a child who has special needs. So, does this provide a unique perspective for you and it hasn't added to your passion for the pro-life ministries. Oh my goodness will develop is now almost 34 years old and he was born with Down syndrome and interestingly enough he was born when I was in the middle of writing a book about the nontreatment of handicapped newborns, many of whom had, so it was as if God gave us this amazing gift and blessing of this little boy when I had been out sticking around the country and on that very topic and had been meeting families who have children with down syndrome who had children with special needs and then here we were with our own child with special needs. Now a young man holds down a wonderful job at a very well-known supermarket in Raleigh had many friends and gets up every day and said mom my mission at my job is to make people happy and on many fronts will understand through what's truly important in life. God people all all the values that we work so hard to inculcate into our children's lives will just seems to naturally and that he had actually spoken at CareNet large 1500 person conference on his own speech he wrote is done a YouTube video promoting the October baby movie several years ago and he has spoken and pregnancy so he is like any definition just amazing young man and we have three other wonderful children and we will depart at a gang, but it it has, I think it has enriched our lives so much because people with special needs. So many times do not have the boundaries and the barriers to expressing joy, expressing love, helping each other and we been able to speak to will and his friends just those amazing example. So much so that our other three children did not want to miss one will party did not want to miss a Special Olympics event because it was so wonderful to see people living that way and loving each other in caring for each. So yes, yes, what a beautiful impersonal side.

I think of the of the pro-life movement in which a lot of times I think we lose sight of patent move back into the business aspects of of of our pro-life movement. But let's do that because I know that that you have have also seen a development in the world. Pregnancy care centers that our listeners may not even know about and that is a shift away from locally run ministries with local boards and quite a few cities across the country. A national group is establishing a presence by assuming operations of the of local pregnancy centers.

The board voluntarily resigned to allow this transition is not a hostile takeover in any sense, but this national organization pours a lot of money into social media marketing web presence still utilizing their local staff.

They put a lot of weight into analytical analytics in AB testing on everything they do. We know we have a center here in Raleigh that is partnering with this national organization is not Gateway what is your opinion of this development.

Well, let me say that I know those who started this organization. Their hearts are wonderful on this issue. There is more than enough work to be done in this area and I think that we welcome them.

I think it's a different model in the sense that someone in our city recently said to me you know Melinda Gateway doesn't the ground game and I think that is so true were very savvy is a very savvy about Internet advertising geo-fencing all the different ways that we reach and engage that abortion minded woman, but I think that there's two different models here and in our model, we are locally based as you said, there are strong relationships. There's a lot of engagement and partnerships within the city with organization and we are absolutely faith-based and I think that that that is woven into our coaching to what happens the opportunity to have spiritual conversation. All of our volunteers staff are trained not in an aggressive or disrespectful way, but in a way that allows for just think for herself. You know about some of the deeper questions in her life.

Realizing that she may be one of the many many women coming to pregnancy centers will never walk through the doors of the church and this may be one of our few times to engage her and and we have found God do amazing thing through the 40 years in which this model has been working crazy.

It's all good. It is all good.

What what ever people are doing to embrace life to help women that's a wonderful thing. There are very few of these types other types of centers around the country now but I just I know it's welcome welcome because new things are needed. New things are happening and there is certainly enough on our plate and everyone's plate to bring back to think like crazy.

Thank you. So we are nearly out of time for this week will be talking to you about some other things.

Next week, but what would you recommend to people who might want to investigate getting involved with their local pregnancy center. Well, you can go to www.gatewaycampus.org and that the pregnancy center that literally is serving the 1000 college students within a 3 mile radius and and that is a demographic of women who are the most at risk of having abortion and it's an opportunity to engage online with them to serve them at the Gateway Center and to partner with them on campus organization while interrupt you because this goes to radio stations all across the state.

Okay so I think we need to be more statewide. I don't know that there's no question I you know I think people don't yeah okay because otherwise it be. Okay, okay, let's just let you when we talk about CareNet so let's just yeah just get okay so were nearly out of time for this week.

We didn't mention that Melinda is an accomplished author, editor and speaker, although I think that became clear is as she's spoke today. We tried again like that here because we did talk about that we are nearly out of time this week we one more time Melinda were nearly out of time this week so tell our listeners where they can get more information if they want to read your books. If they want to learn more about your wonderful son working our listeners go to find out more. Well Google. If you Google my name, there is a lot there very often. But there is a lot. There's a YouTube video. There there books and speeches and things that have been given it it's all available and you know I would just encourage everyone. There is a way that you can be involved. It might be volunteering at a pregnancy center.

It might be mentoring and helping women who have made a decision to carry their baby, but really don't know what to do. It may be in abortion healing. When you realize how many millions of abortions and how many of our families and our friends have been affected by. There are so many ways to be involved. So if you go to the CareNet website. If you Google CareNet if you Google Gateway in Raleigh or your local pregnancy and find out give them a call.

Check out in your church. What might be happening the way the future your church is engaged with the pregnancy center movement and think about how God might want you to be involved because it may be pre-it may be praying for women who are literally walking through the doors of the pregnancy and being able to pray about them anonymously and pray for what's happening. Amazing opportunity that we, as hundreds and thousands and millions of believers could actually get pray for women as they're making the most important mentalist Melinda deltoid. Thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters and for your important work to save the unborn and love and support mothers. Thanks for joining us. Okay, so Melinda