The unfounded attacks against pregnancy centers in Massachusetts are limiting the choices available to women who face an unexpected pregnancy.
Politicians like Governor Maura Healey often speak about how women deserve choice, yet she and others attack our network of pregnancy centers, the Pregnancy Care Alliance of Massachusetts (PCAll,) for truly providing choice by walking alongside pregnant women, regardless of their circumstances. Sadly, those elected to serve all women have started an aggressive assault on our work and are now weaponizing the political system to shut down centers across the state.
The announcement of a taxpayer-funded campaign aimed at discrediting our centers is the latest example. This politically motivated campaign will negatively impact women the most by stripping away the vital support network we offer and taking away a woman’s ability to choose life.
Pregnancy care centers offer women real, tangible resources so that they can flourish throughout pregnancy and beyond.
PCAll includes a majority of Massachusetts’ pregnancy centers, which are part of a larger national network of over 2,750 established pregnancy centers that exist to support women facing unexpected or difficult pregnancies. Our organizations meet a dire need by offering women free material resources – including diapers, baby clothes, strollers, and more – often in addition to financial and educational resources that enable moms to build a future for their families. Many centers also offer women ultrasounds, STD and pregnancy tests, mentoring and even post-abortive counseling completely free of charge, while helping women find housing, pursue educational goals, and career development.
It’s hard to imagine the full impact of these centers, much less the lives they’ve changed forever. In 2023 alone, PCAll centers served over 4,000 women and provided them with over half a million dollars in material assistance. That same year, they saved the communities they serve over $1.5 million by providing no-cost services and support.
National surveys show that over 97% of clients served by pregnancy centers report a positive experience; women served by PCAll centers report 98% satisfaction. Anyone who visits our centers will see why.
It’s essential that every resident of the Commonwealth, and politicians on both sides of the aisle, stand behind us, especially because our centers are critical for protecting women from abortion coercion. Some research shows that nearly 70% of post-abortive women felt pressured into unwanted abortions, and 60% of women say they would have preferred to give birth if they had received the emotional or financial support they needed. We must meet this need, and pregnancy centers offer countless women the support and resources necessary to avoid such pain and regret.
Political efforts to shut down our centers will leave women abandoned and show no interest in protecting women from abortion coercion or giving them the option to choose life.
Nevertheless, some politicians are intent on discrediting and destroying pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, simply because we don’t offer abortions. Most have never even stepped inside a pregnancy resource center. In 2022, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said there was a need to “crack down” on our centers and that “we need to shut them down all around the country.” It was shocking to us that Sen. Warren would attack our efforts, especially at a time when pregnancy resource centers were facing violent attacks, threats and firebombings from pro-abortion radicals.
That same year, then-Attorney General Healey issued a baseless consumer advisory warning against our centers, and several cities issued ordinances fining pregnancy resource centers up to $300 for every instance of “deceptive” advertising. The ordinances notably failed to define what constituted “deceptive advertising.”
The following years have been even worse for those of us on the frontlines serving women. In 2023, amidst continued attacks from Massachusetts’ leaders, Gov. Healey signed a budget bill that included the $1 million for the public smear campaign launched this month. That same tax revenue could have instead helped countless Massachusetts women at what is likely a time when they need our help the most.
And this May, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell led a group of at least 17 other Democratic attorneys generals to form a “reproductive rights working group,” whose goal includes persecuting pregnancy resource centers across the nation.
Yet amidst the chaos created by state politicians, it’s comforting to know that the majority of the American people (83%) support the work we do at pregnancy resource centers. That’s why we will continue fighting on behalf of babies and moms, to ensure that women have true choices and life-affirming options.
Women who want alternatives to abortion deserve support and help when they face an unexpected pregnancy. It’s time for extreme politicians in Massachusetts to stand down from their attacks on the charitable organizations that exist to serve these women.
Teresa Larkin is Co-Chair of PCAll and Diane O’Toole is Secretary of PCAll
