The research published in Contraception, an international reproductive health journal, concludes that crisis pregnancy clinics do a better job of providing services than abortion clinics, including the Planned Parenthood abortion chain.
Dr. Michael New of the Charlotte Lozier Institute explains that the authors compared 445 child termination centers to nearby pregnancy help centers and found that 68% of the pro-life clinics offered a same-day appointment; the same can only be said of 32% of abortion facilities.
"Also, pregnancy help centers charge a lot less," Dr. New continues. "Almost no pregnancy help centers charge for pregnancy tests. The median price at an abortion clinic was $24. Similarly, almost no pregnancy centers charge for an ultrasound. The median price at an abortion clinic was $162."
Additionally, most pro-life clinics offer their services for free while abortion clinics are for-profit.
Dr. New goes on to point out that the authors separately analyzed abortion facilities in 25 states that either provide direct or indirect funding to pregnancy help centers or have legislation in place that requires referrals to pregnancy help centers. In these states, abortion facilities had shorter wait times for pregnancy tests. They also on average charged less for both pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. That tells Dr. New that competition from pregnancy help centers impacts abortion facilities.
"This study appeared in a liberal academic journal," the researcher adds. "None of the authors are pro-life, so the fact that even a liberal academic journal is acknowledging that pregnancy centers are doing a better job than abortion clinics at meeting the needs of women -- that's very important and very telling."
The data was pulled from all 50 states.
