Pro-life states attempt to shield pregnancy centers from attacks

Legislatures in various pro-life states are advancing efforts to protect pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) from pro-abortion regulation and political suppression, placing these groups as a linchpin of post-Roe support for women and children. 

Key Takeaways:

• Numerous states have introduced legislation to protect PRCs from pro-abortion persecution.

• PRCs should not be forced to commit abortions, refer for them, or promote them.

• These bills reinforce the notion that abortion is not a solution for unplanned pregnancies.

The Details:

Wyoming

Lawmakers in Wyoming recently greenlighted the Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression (CARE) Act on March 4, which would prevent state and local officials from adopting laws or rules that target pregnancy centers for extra oversight because they decline to commit or refer for abortions.

The bill says that neither the state nor "any of its political subdivisions" may require a PRC to commit abortions, offer abortion drugs or birth control, refer for abortions or birth control, counsel clients toward abortion or contraception, advertise or distribute any material that promotes abortion/birth control or how to obtain them, or hire anyone "who does not affirm the center's mission statement or... pro-life ethic...."

It also says the government cannot "prohibit a pregnancy center" from providing any of its usual services (information, medical testing, counseling, or tangible resources) "because the pregnancy center does not perform, refer or counsel in favor of abortion, abortion-inducing drugs or contraception," and cannot prohibit a PRC from counseling on "any pregnancy-related care or treatment," including things like 'abortion pill reversal.' 

The legislation would also empower these centers to take legal action against any government body that breaches these provisions. 

National Right To Life wrote: 

The bill also puts the record straight about what pregnancy centers actually do. The findings list free, confidential services such as pregnancy tests, peer counseling, twenty-four-hour telephone hotlines, childbirth and parenting classes, referrals to community health care, adoption referrals, and other support services.

The Legislature also recognizes that many medical pregnancy centers offer ultrasounds and other medical services. That matters because ultrasound is not propaganda. Ultrasound is reality, and reality often becomes the turning point that helps a woman see the child she already carries.

... It prohibits the state and a wide range of governmental entities, including political subdivisions and local governments, from adopting laws, ordinances, policies, or similar measures that coerce or punish pregnancy centers because they stand against abortion.

That is the heart of it: the state will not let bureaucracy become a club used to silence life-affirming ministries.

Kansas

Kansas legislators have passed a bill — House Bill 2635 — virtually identical to that of Wyoming; it is also called the CARE Act.

Pregnancy Resource Centers Provide Millions In Free Services

Oklahoma

A similar bill was passed in Oklahoma to block the government from enacting specific mandates on PRCs, as well as grant those centers the ability to take legal action against anyone who violates the law.

The legislation leverages on Oklahoma’s Choosing Childbirth Program, which finances some centers as part of a wider attempt to help mothers and young children after the state implemented a near-total abortion ban in 2022.

Montana

Montana passed a pro-life measure supported by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization known for championing conscience rights in the post-Roe era.

Zoom In:

Predictably, pro-abortion groups have denounced these measures, alleging that PRCs misrepresent themselves as medical clinics, delay access to “health care,” and promote what they call “inaccurate information,” especially around 'abortion pill reversal' — the administration of the pregnancy-supporting hormone progesterone in an attempt to save a preborn child's if a mother changes her mind after starting a chemical abortion. 

The recent prevalence of pro-life bills across Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Montana showcases how the post-Roe tussle for the dignity of every human life has changed from courtroom battles over Roe to legislative skirmishes over conscience.

As pro-abortion forces attempt to downplay or marginalize pregnancy help centers, pro-life states are codifying legal safeguards that reinforce these ministries’ capacity to exist, speak, and serve without kowtowing to the demands of the abortion industry.

The Bottom Line:

It is noteworthy that these initiatives are not procedural amendments, but a strong proclamation that  abortion does not provide solutions to mother and child. The eventual outcome of these bills in the near future — and any legal contests that ensue — will disclose whether America’s pro-life states can build a long-standing culture of life in which crisis pregnancy centers are protected instead of persecuted.