The Daily Signal - Here's Where to Go If You Need Help With your Unexpected Pregnancy

Episode Date: June 28, 2022

It’s a post-Roe world and life appears to be winning. But even though the issue of abortion now moves back to the American people to decide, there will still be women who need help and assistance with unexpected pregnancies. Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, says that there are a treasure trove of resources available for those who need them. They just need to know where to look. "There is a pregnancy resource center movement with well over 3,000 pregnancy care centers, pregnancy resource centers, and so typically they are in your local community," she explains. "These resource centers will provide things like pregnancy tests or ultrasounds or STD tests or health care or diapers, formula, et cetera, housing even in some cases." There's also a well developed network to help with finding these resources, Mancini says. "The two umbrella groups that you would definitely want to check out are Heartbeat International, which is in Ohio, but many of the pregnancy care centers are under their umbrella," she explains, "Then the second one is Care Net, which is based out of Northern Virginia, and they have a wonderful hotline." We also cover these stories: The Supreme Court rules in favor of Washington state football coach Joe Kennedy and his right to prayer. Justice Clarence Thomas suggests the Supreme Court should reconsider a prior ruling making it more difficult to sue media organizations. New voter registration data analyzed by the Associated Press finds more than 1 million American voters have switched over to the Republican Party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, June 28th. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Doug Blair. It's a post-row world, and life appears to be winning. But even though the issue of abortion now moves back to the American people to decide, there will still be women who need help and assistance with unexpected pregnancies. Jeannie Mancini, president of March for Life, joins the show today to discuss some of those options for women facing those types of pregnancies and how average Americans can step up to help. But before we get to Doug's conversation with Jeannie Mancini, let's hit our top.

news stories of the day. Monday marked another historic day at the Supreme Court, this time for public school employees. The justices ruled in favor of Washington State football coach Joe Kennedy and his right to prayer. Kennedy was an assistant football coach at Bramerton High School outside Seattle from 2008 to 2015. After every game, Kennedy had a tradition of taking a knee in prayer at the 50-yard line to thank God. Eventually, the school district found out and told him that he had to stop. But Kennedy says that he couldn't break the covenant he made with God and continued to pray in the middle of the field after games.

Ultimately, that decision cost him his job. Kennedy filed a lawsuit against the school district and the Supreme Court heard arguments for the case in April, and now they have ruled in Kennedy's favor. It was a 6-3 opinion with all the court, three more liberal justices voting against Kennedy. In the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, the free exercise and free speech clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal. And he added that the Constitution

neither mandates nor permits the government to suppress such religious expression. Kennedy joined Fox News right after the ruling was announced, and said that he hopes to return to coaching at Bremerton High School. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said this case is about whether a public school must permit a school official to kneel, bow his head, and say a prayer at the center of a school event. The Constitution does not authorize, let alone require public schools to embrace this conduct. Kennedy's attorney with First Liberty Institute, Kelly Shackleford, says the ruling is a tremendous victory for Coach Kennedy, and religious liberty for all Americans.

The corporate media should watch out because the Supreme Court might make it easier for people to sue them for defamation and libel. On Monday, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the Supreme Court should reconsider a prior ruling, making it more difficult to sue media organizations. A case filed by Coral Ridge Ministries Media, a Christian nonprofit group, centered around the organization's characterization as a hate group by the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center. Coral Ridge Ministries Media sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for defamation, but the High Court declined to hear the case. The justices felt that the Christian nonprofit's case didn't pass muster over the standard set in the 1964 case, New York Times v. Sullivan. Thomas disagreed.

In his dissent, Thomas wrote, this case is one of many, showing how New York Times and its progeny have allowed media organizations and interest groups to cast false aspersions on public figures with near-eastern. punity. It looks like a political shift might be taking place across America. New voter registration data analyzed by the Associated Press has found that more than one million American voters have switched over to the Republican Party. The data was collected from 43 states across the country and includes cities in small towns and everywhere voters are joining the GOP. The AP reports that the most significant switch is taking place in suburban areas. Former President Donald Trump lost a lot of support in suburbia America in the 2020 election, but a lot of voters look like they're returning back to the Republican Party now.

While over 1 million people have become Republicans in America over the last year, 630,000 have become Democrats. That's all for headlines. Now stay tuned for my conversation with March for Life President Jeannie Mancini as we discuss resources for mothers struggling through pregnancy. Are you looking for quick conservative policy solutions to current issues? Sign up for Heritage's weekly newsletter, The Agenda. In the agenda, you will learn what issues Heritage Scholars on Capitol Hill are working on, what position conservatives are taking, and links to our in-depth research. The agenda also provides information on important events happening here at Heritage that you can watch online,

as well as media interviews from our experts. Sign up for the agenda on heritage.org today. My guest today is Jeannie Manzini, president of March for Life. Jeannie, welcome to the show. Oh, thanks so much for having me, Doug. Of course. Well, obviously, given the news that happened on Friday, this is a pretty happy occasion and something that we should definitely be talking about sort of like what are the next step.

So to start off with, now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, what are some of the changes that women will start to see as a result of that change? well okay so first of all something that i've been thinking a lot about is that uh this isn't a moment necessarily to spike the football i mean it is a moment to definitely give thanks and i mean boy did we think that we'd be here in our lifetime i i don't think i did but it's really that we're moving into a new season um there's a great Winston Churchill quote from the battle of elamene right after that and he was asked do you think this is the end you know of world war two of course And he said, no, it's not the end.

And I don't think it's the beginning of the end, but perhaps it's the end of the beginning. And that's, I think, a good way for us to view where we are right now. And so the next phase, I would say there's two critical steps. So one, of course, the question of pro-life protections returned to the people of America, the American people. So those who vote, right? So like it returns to the legislative branches both at the national level and then even more importantly at the state level. So we're very ready for that at the March for Life with our state march initiative.

And I can drill down that if you'd like. But the second pillar is strengthening our safety net for women and men facing unexpected pregnancies. So it's already very strong. And I think that all of the wonderful resources out there for women facing unexpected pregnancy, It's a little bit of the untold story of the pro-life movement, and I'd be happy to drill down on that. But given our new scenario, I think all people of goodwill are called to increase our support so that no woman ever feels sort of backed into a corner. And I'm hearing all sorts of great news stories, and I'd be happy to share some of those

related to this topic. Well, that's wonderful. It sounds like there is a very strong network right now of resources for pregnant women. men who are looking for, and I think you mentioned men as well, so fathers who are looking for resources who are dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. Can you maybe go through some of what that looks like? What does the safety net look like right now for people who are going through this type of unexpected pregnancy who need some assistance? Great. So collectively, there is a pregnancy resource center movement with well over 3,000 pregnancy care centers, pregnancy

resource centers. And so typically they are in your local community. You may not have heard about them, but look into it. These resource centers will provide things like pregnancy test or ultrasounds or STD test or health care or different diapers, formula, etc. Housing even in some cases. So these resource centers provide over $270 million in free. resources to men and women facing unexpected pregnancies every single year. So that's just one part of it. And I'd say the other part of that is maternity homes, which are much more stable and long-term for women that are in this scenario. In my local community within like a 20-mile radius, there are two of these homes. And women can live there for two years plus as they're having

their babies. In fact, one of our speakers at the March for Life this year was, a recipient of just a tremendous maternity home down in this area called marriage shelter. And so that's another very, very important part of the movement. And I think, again, people of goodwill, if we can give and support these PRCs and these maternity homes, it's incredible. But above and beyond that, there are many, many other state initiatives and we're beginning to see some good federal initiatives that will support the families while the babies in its earliest stages of life. So for example, you may or may not know that when Texas enacted its heartbeat loss that was back in September in 2021, it simultaneously, the government of Texas passed

a $100 million funding bill to fund women and men in these various scenarios. So this was very similar. It would provide very similar resources to what pregnancy care centers provide. So diapers, formula, food, clothing, you know, cribs, all of those kinds of things for mom and dads early as the baby has just been born or is about to be born. Mississippi has a similar funding stream and a handful of other states have this as well. So I think we'll see more and more of this and certainly new and creative bills at the federal level. I know Senator Rubio introduced a new bill on Friday that is along me. lines and more. And so I'm excited to see more and more of this at the federal level.

So it sounds like there are oodles of resources out there for women who are looking to get some assistance with a pregnancy that maybe they're not able to handle. We keep hearing these advocates for pro-abortion causes claim that with the overturn of Roe v. Wade, women will be forced to have children and that there's no support structure. But it just sounds like that's not true. it's definitely not true well for starters women have so many options in front of them and depending on which state abortion isn't illegal in that state so as we know just i mean quick lay of the land that 21 states had bills that would be very life protective and so that's going into action this week they're being enacted this week 19 states had very pro abortion bills so these are the new yorks the california California's of the country. And then nine states had some pro-life protections, but that could be increased. So for starters, that's kind of the lay on the land, you know, legally. But certainly, there are so many wonderful supports and options if a woman doesn't feel ready to raise the

child on her own. So she could get all of the resources that I just mentioned. And of course, another beautiful, and what I would say is a noble option, is that of choosing adoption. There are more than half a million couples that are waiting to adopt a child at any time in this country. And there are only about 20,000 infant adoptions every year in the United States. And I'm not saying that it's easy on anyone, but it is a beautiful and certainly a life-affirming choice adoption. So you've mentioned a couple of different places. These maternity homes in particular are interesting to me. Are these mostly funded by other kind of private citizens?

Are they backed by the government? How do these places sort of work? Private citizens. They are rarely backed by maternity homes. I'm sorry, by the government. I do know of a handful that have received government funding, but they're the exception to the rule versus the rule. So it's not impossible to receive some government funding to support these moms.

And hopefully that will change, you know, more in that direction. But for the most part, these are supported by private citizens and by, you know, wonderful foundations that want to affirm life. And are they mostly for people who are just getting right off their feet, who just sort of have like, I need a little bit of assistance. I know you mentioned that maternity homes can have people there up for two years. But, you know, one of the accusations that sometimes we'll hear from the pro-abortion crowd is that only, we only care about the baby while it's in the womb and then maybe slightly afterward. But there's nothing sort of long-term to support mothers. Is there any other

resource that people who are sort of struggling to raise a child might be able to use as well? I can speak just anecdotally to one of these maternity homes that I know, so women can live there with their babies, they say for two years, but often the case is that

they live longer than two years at the homes, and they come back and get support throughout life, whether it's emotional or counseling or what have you. So for sure that's the case. I think that in some ways, though, what you're getting at is, you know, a continued need for our community organizations, churches in particular, to be supportive of life all throughout life. Like, not only at the very beginning stages, but all throughout life to protect the dignity of the human person.

But there's no lack of support for young moms facing an unexpected pregnancy in our country today. And some places have more support than others. And I think you're going to see a lot of communities rise up to the challenge. One case in point. So I was blessed to be out at Focus on the Family just a few weeks ago. And I know they're starting a new initiative so that no mom feels like she'd be unsupported in these moments. A little bit closer to home for me, Gatorsburg, Maryland, I heard of a great church there called St. John Newman. That is, again, doing some really creative and wonderful things so that no one,

woman in their town in Gaithersburg will feel backed into a corner to choose abortion, even though she's got that option in front of her in Maryland, but they'll be doing everything possible to come alongside her. I think what we might be seeing as well is just families, you know, volunteering to take in and shepherd and shelter young moms so that she gets that, you know, that really personal love and hospitality in moments like this, which is also. another beautiful thing. Now, one of the things that sometimes we'll hear from people who are against life, who are on the more pro-abortion side, is that these facilities are not actually doing what they're supposed to be doing and that a facility like a Planned Parenthood would be better instead. What is your

response to people who say, let's just have Planned Parenthood deal with this? Well, I mean, gosh, I have a lot of thoughts about that, but my immediate one is that Planned Parenthood has a financial interest. They've got a conflict of interest because they make money off of abortions. And these pregnancy care centers are non-profit and they're operating on a shoestring budget. They're not getting the millions of dollars that Planned Parenthoods get from the federal government. And there's no financial interest at stake there. I mean, really, the interest at stake is the good of the mom and the good of the baby. So that would just be a starting. point about these things. But I mean, I think that I've seen some really interesting studies about

women who go into Planned Parenthood. And while Planned Parenthood in some ways, to the other side, has a very strong brand. Nobody's going to argue that. The reality is that when women go into those clinics, they feel like they're a number and they're treated, you know, kind of like a number, basically and kind of exploited. They don't feel like they're treated like just a unique

person who has a unique life growing within her and is treated with great dignity. That's just anecdotal but interesting and I want to say that that came out of heroic media perhaps in Missouri but someone did some really good anecdote or

the kind of research where they were interviewing women coming out of Planned Parenthood and we're able to, you know, pull this information together about what women aren't receiving there. Now, seeing as we do have all of these resources that are more pro-life, we've talked about a bunch of these different things that women can use if they are in a situation where they need this type of assistance. How does somebody find that type of resource? I know that there's so many of them, is there like a website that catalogues all of

these places? Is there some form of resource that they can find? to find the resources. Yes, absolutely. So I'm just pulling it up online as we're talking right now, but the two umbrella groups that you would definitely want to check out are Heartbeat International, which is in Ohio, but many of the pregnancy care centers are under their umbrella. And then the second one is KERNET, which is based out of Northern Virginia.

And they have a wonderful, like, hotline. And I'm just looking it up right now. I don't have it memorized, which I absolutely should, and hopefully I'll have it up here in just a minute. Here we go. It's 1-800-712 Help. It's called Option Line, and you can also check it out if you prefer not to talk to someone at optionline.org, 1-800-712-H-E-L-P-O-O-P-E-L-P-O-T-L-L-L-O. Well, that's excellent that there is that recent.

source that's cataloging all of these places where women can go. I guess as a final question as we wrap up here, there are so many different things that these women can go and do. There's those maternity homes that you mentioned. There's the crisis pregnancy centers. How can Americans best support women and, to an extent, fathers who need this type of assistance during a pregnancy and after the fact on their own? Obviously, they can support the pregnancy centers and all these other places, but what can they be doing in their daily lives to really make a difference in these people's lives. Ah, what a great question.

So the first thing is that when a woman is facing an unexpected pregnancy, what she longs to hear and needs to hear more than anything is you've got this. You can do this and I'm going to be here for you to help you with it. Really, that's what she wants more than anything. She doesn't want to be told that she needs to get rid of the child or what have you. So first and foremost, just to be a friend, a genuine friend. and to tell her she's got this. And then to be willing to give sacrificial in different ways, you know, whatever that might look like, I know of a scenario very close to me where a brother

took in a sister to come and live with him when she was pregnant for many, many years, and she was in law school and needed to take a semester out of law school to be able to give birth and then choose adoption, which was really hard. But, you know, being that family member that's making the sacrifices that hurt. But love saves lives. Sacrifice begets fruit. And so living this as beautifully and sacrificial as we can in our own lives with the people around us.

Wonderful. Well, that was Jeannie Mancini, the president of March for Life. Thank you so much for giving us all of these resources. And please, if you are going through an unexpected pregnancy or you need some help, need some resources, check out some of those resources that she just talked about and know that you are loved and that there is. a, there is a bright future ahead of you. So thank you so much again, Jeannie. Oh, thanks so much for having me.

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