April Fool’s Day is a day of childlike revelry; a bit like the spring version of Halloween. But after reading the numerous articles blasting Crisis Pregnancy Centers on the ‘Don’t Be Fooled’ page of RH Reality Check, published naturally in the wee hours of April Fool’s Day, I feel rather like I am choking to death on a candied apple!

I worked for several years as a pregnancy counselor, and was trained using the ‘Equipped to Serve’ program, written by Cyndi Philkill and Suzanne Walsh. We were always very honest and upfront with our clients that we were trained lay counselors, not professional counselors. Lay counseling is very different from professional counseling in that professional counselors attend a university, do clinical rotations under an already licensed professional counselor and then become licensed in the State in which they wish to practice.

A lay counselor, however, is a member of a church or community with excellent listening and organizational skills. This person completes a predetermined number of hours within a regimented course geared to the type of lay counseling they will be doing, in this case crisis pregnancies, under the guidance of a certified lay counselor, or sometimes even a professional counselor. As lay counselors we are asked to go beyond our basic training with both on-the-job training and in-services trainings. At my center, and it would only seem prudent to say most centers, we had supervisors and evaluations on a regular basis.

Lay counselors are trained to recognize certain situations, ones which we know to refer to professional counseling services. The CPC I worked with had a comprehensive list of professional counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists. Our office also made referrals to hospitals, nurses and medical doctors, depending on what the individual client needed. I even made several trips with clients, when they asked, to the ER or to an ultrasound appointment.

So what is it about CPCs that the RH writers find so scary?

Vicki Saporta’s article begins with a heart wrenching story of a young woman looking for “abortion services” in the phone book, but having the misfortune to find a CPC name under the wrong heading. This is a sad and hurtful experience for women. Pregnancy centers are extremely careful where they advertise in the phone book because they are sensitive to women and their individual situations. In fact, it is because of abortion providers’ false advertising practices that CPCs are so diligent about where they lay down their name.

In November 2006, abortion clinics called Dr. Emily Women’s Health Center in New York ran ads in both the ‘Abortion Alternatives’ and the ‘Abortion Providers’ sections of the Ambassador Yellow Pages. Expectant Mother Care Pregnancy Centers sued in order to get “Dr. Emily” out of ‘Abortion Alternatives.’ A Bronx Women’s Medical Pavilion, owner of “Dr. Emily’s” settled the suit and agreed to stay on their side of the yellow pages. A similar case is being fought in California against a Planned Parenthood who has crossed into the ‘Abortion Alternatives’ section in order to catch women off guard. Unfortunately these are just two examples of many where it is the abortion providers who have crossed into deception, not the CPCs.

It is true that many CPCs are grounded in religious convictions, but that is not a bad thing. Allyson Kirk talks about her need to be “defensive” when the pregnancy counselor mentions religion. Why? I agree with the counselor in Allyson’s story that it is difficult to talk with clients about abortion in a way that they would relate to when you have no background about their religion. To that I would also add counselors also typically ask about their client’s community, upbringing and general background.

All of these, including religion, factor into how the client views their individual situation, and all of these factors are necessary for a counselor to actively participate in their client’s session. I have listened to Catholics, Protestants, atheists and everyone in between. As a counselor, you approach everyone differently because of their different backgrounds. A lay counselor, even though they are typically Christian, they are trained to be unbiased about people’s backgrounds.

Why is it that the RH writers are so biased against CPCs?

Here is a question for Lauren Bull: How can listing CPCs under ‘Anti-Choice Pregnancy Center/Free Pregnancy Testing’ in the directory she created possibly be construed as unbiased? I have a true story for Lauren, though the client name has been changed to protect her identity. I was working on an ad for my CPC, when I heard the bells jingle, indicating that the front door had just opened. Sophia looked a little lost, but was obviously a “no-nonsense” type of woman. I introduced myself with a smile and Sophia said, “The abortion clinic down the street said you all could tell me about all my options.”

I desperately wanted some Q-tips to swab my ears. I politely confirmed that we had information on all options, and guided her to take her free pregnancy test. After the test and the dry background information, we were finally able to sit back and get down to how she found our center. What Sophia told me was shocking. The abortion clinic she had originally gone to, Charlottesville Medical Center for Women, had said that they would only counsel her if she opted to have an abortion!

Sophia wanted to know about all of her options, so she asked them where she could get counseling on all options. After a long talk, Sophia decided to keep her baby. She was not prepared to finance all the little things that come with her little one. Our CPC, like many, was more than happy to supply Sophia with a crib, sheets, clothes, and much, much more.

Why does RH Reality Check see CPCs as such a horrific thing?

They provided many necessary items and services for many people. I know my experiences have already reached many of the faithful, but I can only hope that fools rushing against CPCs on RH Reality Check might read at least a couple sentences.