Pregnancy Services Give Women a Choice

Author: Meghan Michelson

A woman who has become pregnant has several options regarding the future of her child. She also has several choices as to where she goes to seek assistance, counseling and medical aid for her and her baby.

In Middlebury there are two different locations that specialize in care for women before, during and after pregnancy. The organizations, Carenet and Planned Parenthood, offer many similar services to their clients. Both administer pregnancy tests, offer accurate medical information about pregnancy and abortion, recommend sources for prenatal care and are committed to helping men and women make healthy, informed decisions. However, there is at least one striking contrast between these two seemingly similar caregiving organizations — Carenet is a religiously affiliated pro-life organization and Planned Parenthood is a health care provider that supports a woman's right to choose.

The distinction between the two local organizations is severe, stemming from a controversial political and moral debate over a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. These organizations, however, seem willing to put the political battle on the sidelines in order to agree on a mutually important task: educating women about pregnancy.

Carenet, a nonprofit and non-medical organization that is supported entirely by donations from individuals, business and churches in Addison County, states its purpose is to successfully reach out to the community to provide information as well as compassionate support in pregnancy related issues. Due to its religious nature, the organization also blends religious dialogue with their discussion of medical issues.

"We are a care outreach ministry of Jesus Christ and we're committed to presenting the Gospel of the Lord to women," said Lynne Porter, executive director of Carenet. Porter emphasized that the balance between religious and medical information is relatively equal. "We'll share the word of God about the benefits of abstinence, and we also have very good brochures from the Department of Health," explained Porter.

Although Carenet obviously does not support the decision to abort a pregnancy, they are advocates of supporting and caring for women despite the moral implications of their decisions. "Because we believe in carrying a child to term, we don't advise abortion, but we make it clear why we don't support abortion and make women aware of post-abortion situations," explained Jasmin Johnson '05, a volunteer undergoing training to be a peer counselor at Carenet.

Informing women still remains the number one priority at Carenet. "We're not here to choose for the women. We're here to give appropriate information so that she can decide well informed," said Porter.

Planned Parenthood, a national organization that has 13 offices in Vermont serving roughly 30,000 patients each year, is a medical institution that is able to offer more medical services that its pro-life counterpart. "Planned Parenthood is a comprehensive provider of reproductive health care. I don't think Carenet would ever make that claim," said Barrie Silver, marketing and communications director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which services Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The mission of the organization includes promoting access to health care and sexuality education to encourage people to make voluntary choices about their reproductive and sexual health. They achieve this goal by providing health services, such as medical exams, birth control, treatment of sexually transmitted infections and emergency contraception, as well as working in sexual education and public policy.

Similar to Carenet, Planned Parenthood stressed the fact that they first and foremost let women make decisions on their own. "We don't push anything. We just talk to the women and make sure they are well informed," said Silver.