As the debate over abortion continues to rage during this election cycle, the battle is taking some unusual twists and turns. This is particularly true in Massachusettes, where pro-abortion advocates have a new set of targets in their sights. They are no longer satisfied with simply trying to lock up church ladies who are seen praying outside of abortion clinics. They are going after pregnancy resource centers and attempting to shut them down. The people organizing these efforts aren't limited to pro-abortion advocates in the civilian sector. They include many elected officials who are seeking to weaponize government regulatory powers against these centers and the women in crisis who they serve. National Review has all the details. (Subscription required)

Across the country, charitable organizations that exist to provide free resources and support to pregnant women are under intense attack. Far-left politicians who claim to champion women and choice are relentlessly leveraging their political power to discredit and destroy nonprofits that serve both. Sadly, these attacks will harm vulnerable women and families the most.

Massachusetts is ground zero for these attacks. Pro-abortion elected leaders in our state are waging war not just against the women who seek support during an unexpected pregnancy, but also against the pregnancy-resource centers that selflessly open their doors to provide them with unconditional love and resources. 

In 2022, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) led the charge to “crack down” on pregnancy-resource centers and “shut them down” in Massachusetts and beyond. This open hostility served as a permission slip for others on the far left to baselessly attack our centers.

The Bay State has indeed gone all-in on this battle. They've even set up a website where anyone can file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division over what they call "anti-abortion centers" (AACs). In addition to providing contact information where people can sick the authorities on crisis pregnancy centers, they include a dire list of warnings about such facilities. They claim that most of these facilities are not "licensed medical facilities." (That's not only untrue, but they fail to mention that you don't need a medical license to dispense advice or what amounts to temporary housing and infant childcare services.) 

The Massachusetts State Attorney General is looking to take this war on pregnancy resource centers beyond the borders of their state. She joined with the AGs of 17 other Democrat-controlled states to create a “reproductive rights working group.” They are coordinating to persecute these centers across much of the country.

Of course, operating such a center isn't illegal (yet) but they're not letting that slow them down. Massachusetts established a taxpayer-funded smear campaign against pregnancy-care centers with advertisements showing up on television, social media, and electronic billboards. All of the propaganda carries dire warnings about how these centers don't provide abortions but are attempting to "lure" women in and trick them into carrying their pregnancy to term. Keep in mind that this isn't some external grassroots effort. The state legislature approved the funding for this campaign and the taxpayers of the state are footing the bill.

So what is it that these pregnancy care centers are actually providing? The list is extensive. It includes sonograms and pregnancy tests, diapers, baby food, clothing, financial assistance, and parenting classes, among other things. Sounds absolutely diabolical, right? What sort of villain would want to provide all of those things to pregnant women? And they do it all without government funding. 

This is a particularly onerous line of attack that Massachusetts is engaging in. The people working at these pregnancy resource centers aren't trying to block anyone's access to a legal abortion. They are offering options to women who may feel as if they have no other recourse than to terminate their pregnancy. And they are saving the lives of children. How someone could possibly want to shut such facilities down in unimaginable unless the people seeking to do so are, in fact, the evil ones.