Young pro-life pregnancy centre celebrates early successes

LANGLEY—Supporters are applauding the successes of a new pregnancy care centre in downtown Langley just one year after it opened.

Hope for Women, run by pro-life organization Advokate, is already seeing more clients than its four-year-old counterpart in Abbotsford.

“In our first full year in Langley, we had 68 clients, compared to 57 in Abbotsford in its first year,” Advokate director Jared White told 150 supporters at a fundraising dinner Nov. 16.

He believes the popularity of the Langley pregnancy centre which is still in its infancy is in part thanks to putting most of Advokate’s advertising budget into Google advertising.

“If you type ‘abortion Langley’ into Google, you will see that Hope for Women Pregnancy Services is the very top one,” said White.

“When women and girls are looking for abortion, they are looking on their phones. They are Googling it. They are looking for a place to help them, and I’m happy to say instead of getting an abortion clinic’s information, they are getting our information.”

Hope for Women does not provide abortions. All of its pro-life services, in Abbotsford and Langley, are free: pregnancy tests, options counselling, baby formula and clothing, referrals to community services, and ongoing support.

As of this summer, Advokate has begun offering another service to its clients: free ultrasounds.

“Setting up an in-house ultrasound service has been an elusive goal for pregnancy centres in Canada for many years,” and many have been shut down over regulatory concerns. So, this summer Advokate partnered with UC Baby, a local third-party ultrasound company.

“We book the appointment for our clients, our clients show up and receive an ultrasound from a qualified, friendly pro-life technician; UC Baby bills us, and our clients come back to us for follow-up.” This strategy comes “for a fraction of the price of having our own ultrasound machine.”

White said the plan is working; this year, five Langley women in crisis situations have confirmed to Hope for Women staff they will carry their children to term. Four of them did so after an ultrasound.

“An ultrasound is such a powerful tool to show women the humanity of their babies, more than words can say.”

The Nov. 16 fundraiser, Advokate’s third annual, was held at North Langley Community Church. Guests included keynote speaker Lauren Roman and politicians Mark Warawa and Mary Polak.

The group raised over $40,000 for ongoing ultrasounds and advertising, expanding its high school program Sexual Health and Intimacy For Teens, and developing a Hope for Women app.