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OREGON LEGISLATION SEEKS TO UNDERMINE PREGNANCY COUNSELING CENTERS

By Mary Starrett
March 18, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

Oregon Legislators, prompted by Planned Parenthood, are seeking to limit a woman�s right to �choose��.NOT to have an abortion. Unbelievable as it may seem, pro-abortion forces have proposed legislation aimed at counseling organizations which promote adoption and parenting as alternatives.

Oregon Senate Bill 776, being promoted by Planned Parenthood and a pro-abortion contingent in the Oregon legislature would attempt to undermine the work of crisis pregnancy centers that don�t suggest the solution to unwanted pregnancies is the killing of an unborn child.

The bill calls for a �study� of �alternative- to- abortion� pregnancy centers, also known as �crisis pregnancy centers� because according to the bill these centers:

�mis-inform and mislead women to deter or to delay them from having abortions� SB 776

Is it such an unspeakable crime to encourage a woman to allow her child to live instead of ending its life? Is Planned Parenthood not content with the millions of federal and state dollars being allocated for its agenda that it must attempt to limit a woman�s CHOICE to hear of options other than death?�

The legislation goes on to demand the state of Oregon:

Have the sponsors of SB 776 done their homework on the after-effects of abortion enough to know that over 20 studies have shown abortion not only lethal to the unborn baby but potentially damaging to the mother? The life-long health consequences of pregnancy termination are anything but pro- woman.

Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) also known as pregnancy counseling centers or pregnancy resource centers help to provide loving alternatives to the "choice" of abortion. There are over 2,000 CPCs nationwide, more than 50 here in Oregon that have essentially the same mission: to save the lives of unborn children.

Almost 50% of pregnant mothers think they have their minds made up about getting an abortion. Sometimes, once they see an ultrasound of the baby growing inside them, they have a heart change and decide not to proceed with the termination. Pregnancy counseling centers are truly pro-choice in that they give the mother the simple facts about issues such as fetal pain, the possible complications of abortion and the studies that show post-abortion women are more at risk for depression, substance abuse, infertility and suicide. At least 60% of those who are pregnant and originally say they are 'seeking abortion' change their minds and give birth.

A research review published in Current Women's Health Reviews highlights the growing body of evidence that abortion is linked with increased rates of substance abuse among women.

Dr. David Reardon, a post-abortion expert and director of the Elliot Institute research organization, said that there are at least 21 published studies that have found a link between induced abortion and substance abuse.

Reardon served as lead author on several studies on abortion and substance abuse including a 2004 study that was the first to compare substance abuse rates among women with unintended first pregnancies and also collaborated with Dr. P Coleman on two studies finding that women who had undergone an abortion were more likely to engage in substance abuse during a subsequent pregnancy.

"Many women who have experienced abortion have unresolved emotional issues related to their abortion," he said. "Substance abuse can provide an easily accessible way to self-medicate their pain and numb their emotions. Unfortunately, however, substance abuse only leads to further difficulties both in terms of their own well-being and problems in their families and other relationships and can lead to a further breakdown in mental health.

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I sit on the board of a non-profit adoption agency that works to place foster children in permanent homes. The agency also receives referrals from crisis pregnancy centers. This May, a young woman who came to our agency from a pregnancy resource center will give birth to a baby girl.There is a loving couple waiting to take her baby home. That�s an alternative we can all live with.

SB 776 is a piece of legislation we can live without.

Sources:

1, " PK Coleman, "Induced Abortion and Increased Risk of Substance Abuse: A Review of the Evidence," Current Women's Health Reviews, 1:21-34 (2005).
2, The full text of Dr. Coleman's review is available online.
3, Breast cancer and abortion: collaborative reanalysis of data from 53 epidemiological studies, including 83,000 women with breast cancer from 16 countries. Lancet 2004;363:1007-16.

� 2007 Mary Starrett - All Rights Reserved