President of Heartbeat International, Jor-El Godsey, discusses the legalization of abortion and the rise of Pregnancy Health Centers beginning in the 1960s.
The 1960s brought the sexual revolution to the United States. In 1967, Colorado became the first state to legalize abortion, and in 1968, Toronto, Canada established the first pregnancy center which became the model for all pregnancy center service locations.
As everyone is aware, in 1973, abortion became a “constituitional right” with the Roe v Wade ruling. After Roe v Wade the ProLife Movement broke into three segments of specialization. First, public awareness, which publicized the truth of abortion. The second specialization was political, which is legislative and legal advocacy. Last, was direct service which involved helping women at risk for an abortion.
Perhaps the biggest decade for Pregnancy Health Centers, and abortion recovery research were the 1980s. Yes, the abortion industrialized, but Pregnancy Health Centers expanded exponentially, and in 1986, research began for abortion recovery and outreach.
In the 1990’s the number of annual abortions did peak, however in the United States, the number of Pregnancy Health Centers started to exceed abortion clinics. For every one abortion clinic, there are four pregnancy centers.
Jor-El encourages everyone to not stop here. The ProLife Movement needs to continue to adapt their outreach, messaging and nimbleness to remain effective and end the demand for abortion.