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| Photo credit: Hush Naidoo / Unsplash |
Caring Families said that the ordinance was discriminatory. The organization's mobile pregnancy center that operates within the City of Hartford does have medical personnel, and it provides ultrasounds and pregnancy tests for women without pressuring them to have abortions.
“The ordinance exempts abortion clinics, community health clinics, and all other health care facilities within Hartford, except for pregnancy centers that do not offer abortion,” wrote Denise Harle of ADF. “The ordinance therefore unlawfully discriminates against organizations such as Caring Families that do not desire to perform, assist in, or refer for abortion services.”
The resulting settlement allows Caring Families to continue operating its mobile pregnancy center without adding signage, but it leaves the discriminatory city ordinance in place. It ultimately determined that the mobile unit cannot be considered a “pregnancy services center” and allowed Caring Families to have an exception to the ordinance.
Pro-life pregnancy centers that don't provide or refer patients to abortions are legitimate pregnancy centers that provide legitimate services. They should be treated as such by all levels of government.
