A study published in Contraception by Vinekar et al. finds that pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) make their pregnancy confirmation services more accessible than abortion clinics do. The study sought to characterize access to early pregnancy confirmation at PRCs compared to abortion facilities nationwide, and to understand the role that state policies on PRCs plays in service access. The researchers conducted a national mystery caller study of 445 PRC’s and their geographically paired abortion clinics. Posing as clients seeking pregnancy confirmation, they sought to determine the average wait time to the next available appointment and the cost of services. PRCs scored better on both of those metrics, being almost twice as likely to offer same-day appointments as abortion clinics (68.5% vs. 37.2%), with a 0-day median wait time (compared to 1 day at abortion clinics) and being nearly 6 times as likely to offer free pregnancy testing (98% vs 16.6%). Additionally, Vinekar et al. found that, in states with supportive PRC policies (e.g. government funding for these organizations), abortion clinics were less likely to have wait times exceed their paired PRC’s by a week or more, a finding which remained true after controlling for abortion policy. This finding suggests that PRCs act as significant competitors to abortion clinics.
This study offers yet more evidence of the important support that PRCs offer to women facing pregnancy under tough circumstances. A Charlotte Lozier Institute study found that these centers served over 2 million people with essential medical, educational, and support services in 2019. These services were provided largely by volunteers, as 80 percent of the nearly 69,000 pregnancy resource center workers around the country are volunteers, including over 6,400 licensed medical volunteers. In addition, these clinics are staffed by 3,800 licensed medical professionals. If you are interested in helping to provide life-saving medical services at your local pregnancy resource center as a volunteer or staff member, you can find one near you by using our directory, Care Net’s directory, or Heartbeat International’s directory of clinics.
