Here’s how a Fort Worth pregnancy center tries to help women as Texas bars abortion

In a recent interview, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told reporters exactly what she thought about crisis pregnancy centers.

“In Massachusetts right now, those ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ that are there to fool people looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber true abortion clinics by 3-to-1,” the Democrat said of her home state. “We need to shut them down all around the country. You should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that.”

Warren’s claims raise a few questions common here in Texas: What do these centers actually do? Do they lure pregnant women under false pretenses and trick them into choosing life?

Warren’s observation is true here, too: Crisis pregnancy centers significantly outnumber abortion clinics. There are six in the Fort Worth area. The largest and longest-operating local center, the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center, has been around for 25 years. With Roe v. Wade overturned and abortions effectively outlawed in Texas and other states, demand for their services may increase. Here’s what I learned about the staff’s experiences helping women.

Nearly half of the women who find the center do so through a simple Google search, where its rating is nearly five stars. A quarter of visitors arrive via word of mouth referrals. The offices are simple, clean and larger inside than they look from the outside.

When a woman arrives, she’s often unsure if she’s pregnant or not and uncertain what to do if she is. Staff will take her to a small meeting room with comfy chairs — it feels like a therapist’s office.

“The first thing we do is we listen to her and see what’s happening in her life,” says Cindy Leach, the center’s chief executive since November. “What are the obstacles that she faces? What are her fears? How is she feeling about her pregnancy?”

This initial conversation is vital; it builds trust.

A nurse on staff that day will administer a test to confirm pregnancy — in 2021, staff performed 852 tests. If the woman is pregnant, she’ll get a sonogram.

Staff walk a delicate line between offering medical help and practical help. In addition to Leach and the director of development, the staff consists of a nurse manager, sonographer and other volunteers who are nurses — all under the direction of an OB-GYN who serves as medical director off site.

“A lot changes in this room,” the sonographer told me when I looked at the ultrasound machine.

In 2021, the center performed 205 sonograms, the definition of a picture is worth a thousand words.

“An abortion-minded woman needs facts for her decision,” development director Jamie Bryant said. “She needs to know how far along she is, based on the measurements, whether the pregnancy is viable. We are looking for things like an ectopic pregnancy. We are helping her to assess her pregnancy, which is important during the decision making process.”

A DECISION ON ABORTION AND RESOURCES FOR HELP

“The decision” looms large, of course. Many women arrive at the clinic unsure if they’re even pregnant, but once they find out, there’s an urgency to determine what to do. With Roe v. Wade overturned, abortion is essentially outlawed in Texas, unless the woman’s life is at risk.

Bryant recalled a client who came in to the clinic at a little over 14 weeks’ gestation who was “abortion-determined.” Staff followed the usual protocol: Ask her what she wants to do in the quiet room, confirm pregnancy, then perform the sonogram.

Bryant said that after watching her tiny baby move around on the black and white screen, the woman told the staff: “I can’t have an abortion, I fell in love during that sonogram.”

About 93 percent of the women who come to the clinic choose to have their baby, and most vow to parent. In 2021, 18 women were referred to one of the centers adoption partners.

“I think that’s the mother’s heart,” Bryant said. “Especially once we’ve removed the obstacles.”

The relationship does not end there. In fact, it’s just beginning. The staff have what might seem like a unique approach to the decision. They say they never try to persuade a woman whether to abort or not.

“At the end of the day, it’s her decision,” Leach said. “Women are intelligent. We feel like just presenting them with all of the facts, not ‘Here are the reasons you can’t have this baby.’ We want to present her with resources that can help her overcome her obstacles.”

Some crisis pregnancy centers have been accused of circulating misinformation about the consequences of abortion. NBC News recently sent producers to state-funded centers to ask for counseling and reported counselors told them “abortions caused mental illness and implied abortions could also cause cancer and infertility.”

Fort Worth Pregnancy Center staffers said that they offer two information resources: A video that explains the abortion process and a pamphlet published by Texas Health and Human Services titled “A Woman’s Right to Know.” Under abortion risks, the pamphlet suggests “grief” or “anxiety” can be mental health risks. Sadness after the loss of an unborn child, whether via abortion or miscarriage, is normal, proven in studies, and hardly a sign of mental illness.

OUTDATED INFORMATION IN STATE PAMPHLET

The pamphlet also mentioned that complications from infection or a torn cervix, caused by an abortion, could complicate fertility issues in the future. They are rare but not impossible. According to the Mayo Clinic: “Generally, elective abortion isn’t thought to cause fertility issues or complications in future pregnancies. But risks to future pregnancies may depend on the type of elective abortion performed.”

The pamphlet mention a link to increased chances of breast cancer due to abortion — shown in studies in the late 1980s but debunked by other research.

It is true that crisis pregnancy centers hope to offer women the information and tools needed to choose life. But if they’re going to choose abortion, staffers argue, they should do so via “informed consent.”

“I can count on one hand how many women leave here excited to get an abortion. They often feel trapped,” Bryant said.

Lack of finances and support are the primary obstacles women face to choosing life and raising the child. The clinic offers help until the child is 3 years old; after that, it refers her to resources that can help with longer-term needs.

Pregnancy center staff will immediately help a client apply for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage, and they offer prenatal and parenting classes, and diapers and maternity clothes in-house. Over 25 years, the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center has carefully crafted partnerships with other nonprofit organizations, including those working in housing and adoption and even a network of OB-GYNs.

The bulk of the center’s revenue, about 80%, comes from individual donations. The rest is from grants, church partners and the state-supported Texas Alternatives to Abortion program.

The state has boosted funding for the program to about $50 million a year, contracting for services with pregnancy centers, social service providers, adoption agencies and maternity homes for pregnant women. So much for the myth that Texas has only and always focused on the unborn — not helping women.

“The woman is the one we’re building the relationship with. We think she is capable of having a baby and achieving her goals,” Leach said.

PRENATAL AND PARENTING HELP

The Fort Worth center offers prenatal and parenting classes in English and Spanish, which is the primary language for about 20% of clients. Over half of clients are 20-29 years old, and nearly two-thirds are Hispanic.They range from all walks of life. Surprisingly, just under 30% of the women who show up are married.

The classes are a big part of the center’s work.

“We want to equip her not just to have a baby, but to be a good mom,” Leach said.

The father is a large part of the conversation as well, in terms of the mother’s choice. “He has the most influential voice,” Leach said.

In 2021, the center saw 964 clients, following up regularly unless a woman asks them to stop. Many return, pregnant again, unsure of where else to turn but knowing the center is a safe place.

One client returned to the clinic recently after she flew out of state to take the first pill in an abortion-inducing regimen. On the way back, Leach said, she regretted the decision.

“She immediately called us,” Leach said. “We were the point of trust.”

The woman asked for help, and the center connected her with a doctor who provided hormones in an attempt to reverse the effects of the medication. It’s not guaranteed, and gynecological groups have concerns about the treatment. But in this client’s case, she’s still pregnant today and in touch with the center.

Client visits and calls have increased over the last few months, especially since the Supreme Court ruling was announced. Leach is determined to keep pace and continue the clinic’s work of 25 years.

“We want to be the voice of hope,” she said. “We’ve always been a safe place. We understand the reasons why should would choose an abortion so we aren’t going to value her less. We aren’t going to shame her.”