Care Net is an

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

network of crisis pregnancy centers operating primarily in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. As an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...

organization, its centers seek to persuade women not to have

abortions Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...

. Headquartered in Northern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, it is one of the nation's two largest networks of crisis pregnancy centers (along with Heartbeat International).

History

According to its literature, Care Net was influenced by the leadership of former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop and Christian

apologist Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

Dr.

Francis Schaeffer Francis August Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, , a prolific autho ...

. The organization was founded in 1975 as the Christian Action Council by Dr. Harold O. J. Brown, with its primary focus to engage evangelicals in responding to the "abortion crisis". It opened its first crisis pregnancy center in 1983. In the 1990s, the organization’s mission shifted toward supporting anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers; in 1999, the organization changed its name to Care Net. Care Net reports having 1,100 affiliated pregnancy centers across North America. In 2012, Roland C. Warren, former president of the

National Fatherhood Initiative The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization that aims to improve the well-being of children through the promotion of responsible fatherhood. Headquartered in Germantown, Maryland, United St ...

, joined Care Net as president and CEO.

Activities

In addition to counseling clients against abortion, Care Net affiliated centers may provide mothers with services such as temporary shelter, help with jobs, debt and welfare applications, Bible study, and baby supplies such as used clothing, diapers and formula. Care Net, like other CPC networks, touts medically disputed or discredited information about the supposed health risks of abortion; it sometimes locates its centers near Planned Parenthood clinics and uses signs that read "Pregnant? Considering abortion? Free services," or otherwise advertises them as though they were medical clinics. Some Care Net affiliated clinics offer

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...

s. Care Net pregnancy centers have been honored by at least fifteen state legislatures, according to advocacy organization Americans United for Life.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.care-net.org 1975 establishments in the United States Religious organizations based in the United States Christian organizations established in 1975 category:Crisis pregnancy centers Anti-abortion organizations