"The entire body except the back and top of the head responds to pain at 13½ weeks," Hersh says over music and the unfurling of tiny fingers and toes. The video ends with colorful photographs of healthy, smiling children.
The accuracy of that information is what concerns organizations like Planned Parenthood, which posts warnings about "so-called pregnancy centers" on its Web site and in its literature: "They lie about the medical and emotional effects of abortion," their brochures warn.
For example, according to Planned Parenthood, research is conclusive that a fetus cannot feel pain during an abortion that occurs before the 20th week of pregnancy, which is when 99 percent of abortions occur. In fact, their research goes as far as to say that a fetus may not be able to perceive pain at any time during pregnancy. While PSC and CareNet link abortion to breast cancer and future fertility problems, Planned Parenthood cites dozens of studies refuting such theories. The agencies also differ in opinion on the after-effects of abortion. PSC offers a support group for women grieving after an abortion.
"We've seen so many women suffer the repercussions after an abortion. We decided we'd like to offer an alternative," La Rose said. "We want to help them sort out their feelings and deal with the reality of abortion."
Planned Parenthood research concludes that most women feel relief after an abortion: "There is no scientific proof for these claims [of post-abortion trauma]," one of their pamphlets reads. "Serious, long-term emotional problems after abortion are extremely rare and less common than they are after childbirth." Giving a child up for adoption is often the most stressful of all the options, they claim.
Caught in the middle are emotionally fragile, pregnant girls. The average age of the center's clients in New Paltz is 13, La Rose said; in Saugerties, the average age is 15. The centers' educational photographs and videos include pictures of fetal development, but La Rose said she doesn't show any photographs or videos of abortion procedures to clients. "If she does decide to have an abortion, we are there for her. We are always here for the woman," she said.
However, La Rose clarified, they will not refer or accompany a woman who chooses abortion to a clinic or provide information on contraception. And while the local Planned Parenthood clinics and the YWCA list PSC as a resource for women who decide to keep their babies, the pregnancy centers do not return the gesture. PSC will not refer anyone to Planned Parenthood or any other pro-choice family planning clinics, she said.
La Rose is being assisted in her mission by a brand new board of directors president. Frank Fabiano is also pastor of her congregation, the Saugerties Community Church, which meets every Sunday morning in the Howard Johnson conference room. La Rose said denominations there are irrelevant. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved,"she said.
"Finances for non-profits are difficult in a small area like this," Fabiano explained. "But one of the biggest things we're concentrating on is just informing more people where we're located and that we're here for them. People don't know we're available in Saugerties," he said. "We know there are girls out there that are pregnant. And I don't believe that girls want to kill their children. They may think that's their only option, so we're getting the word out. It's a time for renewal."
FRAUD & DECEPTION
In 1988, state Attorney General Robert Abrams launched an investigation into a pregnancy support center called the Alternative Pregnancy Center in Brewster, Putnam County. Assistant Attorney General Nick Guerin said his office received complaints by women who went there seeking pregnancy counseling and were shown a "horrific film" depicting an aborted fetus in a trash can and subjected to moralistic harangues that equated abortion with murder.
According to Guerin, this center used fraud and deception in their billboard and phone book advertising to lure women under false pretenses. His office brought a case against the Alternative Pregnancy Center and won, requiring them to stop soliciting women for counseling through fraud and to make clear to potential clients that they were an anti-abortion advocacy group.
Then, in January 2002, state Attorney General Elliot Spitzer began another investigation into pregnancy support centers across the state after a woman complained she was held against her will at a pregnancy support center in Victor, Ontario County. Spitzer soon issued subpoenas to similar centers across the state stating he was concerned about bait and switch advertising practices "that might lead women to believe the centers provide medical services, abortions, or referrals for abortions when in fact their goal was to persuade women not to consider abortion," he said.
