The White House recently announced a plan to fund a new national hotline devoted to providing referrals to pregnancy-related healthcare services, including abortions.

The hotline, and other government initiatives related to abortion, were discussed when Vice President Kamala Harris convened an Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access meeting on April 13. Harris declared that post-Roe America was in the midst of a “health care crisis.”

“Our administration is fighting on every front to do what we can and what we must to protect the American people and the integrity of our health care system in this country,” she said.

The establishment and management of the hotline, estimated to cost $1.5 million, will be outsourced and is open to bid by existing Title X family planning service grantees. The hotline will provide information to patients served by the Title X family planning program “who request information related to prenatal care and delivery; infant care, foster care, or adoption; or pregnancy termination.”

On Twitter, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that “the secure national hotline will provide referral services to individuals in need of accurate information about their legal reproductive health care options.”

Despite the White House’s claim that the national hotline would be neutral in terms of abortion referrals and disseminated information, many leaders in the pro-life community remain skeptical.

Tom McClusky, the Director of Government Affairs for CatholicVote, said the hotline represents “a clear violation of the Hyde amendment, using tax dollars to set up a system to make it easier to kill children.” The Hyde amendment prevents the federal government from using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions.

An article at LiveAction.com stated, “Considering the Biden administration’s reproductive rights website offers no help to women who want to parent their children, there is substantial reason for concern that this hotline will simply be another way to promote abortion.”

As an organization that advocates from a Pro Abundant Life perspective, Care Net has witnessed firsthand the power of a national hotline when it's used with noble intentions. Every day, the organization’s Pregnancy Decision Line brings hope, comfort, and encouragement to women and men facing unplanned pregnancies.

The Pregnancy Decision Line (PDL) website and real-time call center provide caring, confidential, free support to anyone making choices about an unexpected pregnancy. Coaches, available through a toll-free phone number, answer questions about pregnancy, emergency contraception, abortion, adoption, parenting, and much more.

Callers are met with live compassion, realistic alternatives to abortion, and referrals to life-affirming pregnancy centers. Each day, God does amazing things through the PDL.

“We are meeting people right in the middle of their decision-making process,” said a PDL coach in a Care Net blog article. “They’re considering abortion…We are reaching so many people because everybody's Googling and looking for information. We are right there at that critical moment of decision, and whoever they talk with on the phone will have a huge impact. They could call Planned Parenthood and are told ‘Everything will be fine, don’t worry about it. You just come in this day (for an abortion), and you’re good to go.’ But if they talk to us, they’re going to actually be able to talk things out and you look at all their options.”

In an article entitled “Lessons of Hope from the Pregnancy Decision Line,” Dr. Greg Austen, Care Net’s Executive Director of Church Outreach and Engagement, noted how coaches respectfully and gently engage with callers.

“PDL coaches always leave the caller in the driver’s seat. After all, choice is the gift of adulthood and PDL coaches respect client choices—whether they agree or not—and don’t offer advice that’s not welcome or desired,” Austen said. “[They ask] questions designed to help those in crises explore inner motivations and desires, see options, avoid choices that bring suffering and death, and point callers—where possible—to the hope of the gospel.”

Over the years, there have been countless testimonies regarding Care Net’s PDL. One remarkable story involved a caller who sounded hushed and frightened:

“Hello? Hello? I need help.”

Our Pregnancy Decision Line coach could tell immediately the girl on the line was in trouble.

What she didn’t know was that “Sydney” was only moments away from making the greatest mistake of her life.

“Where are you?” the coach asked.

“I’m in the bathroom at the clinic . . . waiting for my procedure.”

The coach soon discovered that Sydney was calling from an abortion clinic! While waiting for her scheduled “procedure,” the young woman started having second thoughts. Confused, Sydney fled to the bathroom where she used her phone to frantically search online for answers.

Thankfully, the conversation on the PDL led to a change of heart for Sydney.

After speaking with Care Net’s PDL coach, she decided to leave the clinic. The coach also emailed resources and materials about her unborn child and the impact of abortion. And Sydney—in that critical moment—chose life for her baby.

What a difference a hotline can make. Life and death often depend on who answers the call.

YOU CAN DOUBLE THE PRO-LIFE HOTLINE'S IMPACT!

With the federal government funding a national abortion hotline, Care Net's Pregnancy Decision Line is more important than ever. You can ensure that when women and men are searching for answers to their unplanned pregnancies that they find Christ-centered compassion, hope, and help through PDL instead of a pro-abortion, government funded call center. We are working to DOUBLE the capacity of PDL by doubling the number of coaches answering calls, doubling the number of hours we are open, and doubling our advertising budget to reach twice as many women and men in need. Your gift of just $30 can be the difference between life and death, hope and despair, for countless women, men, and their unborn babies. Use this link to give today: https://donate.care-net.org/carenet/dpdl2305-save-lives