The authors of the study conducted by the journal Plos One are considered skeptical of the pro-life pregnancy organizations, and one even has connections with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, a pro-abortion group. The National Review also points out that the authors claim, with no evidence, that pregnancy-help centers provide "inaccurate information" about the risks of abortion.
Even so, Dr. Michael New, an associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, says their study proves the effectiveness of pregnancy-centers.
"About 13% reported they visited a pregnancy resource center," Dr. New relays. "We were able to compare those who visited a pregnancy resource center to those who did not, and they found that of those women who did not visit a pregnancy resource center, 50.5% had an abortion. But of those who did visit a pregnancy help center, only about 29.5% had an abortion."
The survey also revealed a surprising result.
"Women who did not identify with a particular faith tradition were actually more likely to visit a pregnancy resource center than women who reported adhering to a particular faith," he details, noting that most pro-life centers are faith-based. "Visiting a pregnancy help center made all women more likely to carry pregnancy to term, even women who felt at the time confident in their decision to obtain an abortion."
The most important stat, he says, is that 30% of the babies are alive today because of the workers and volunteers at crisis pregnancy centers.
