by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org
SALINA — According to Kansans for Life, more than 50 pregnancy resource centers operate in Kansas, as opposed to seven abortion clinics. This means pregnancy resource centers outnumber abortion clinics 7 to 1.
The resource centers serve communities such as Arkansas City, Coffeyville, El Dorado, Overland Park and Topeka.
And many have long carried out their mission of serving children, women and families largely on their own.
Recognizing greater impact could come through collaboration, the archdiocese, along with pregnancy resource center executive directors Bridgit Smith of Insight Women’s Health in Lawrence and Ruth Tisdale of Two Lines Pregnancy Clinic in Overland Park, helped establish Life Alliance Kansas in 2023.
The statewide coalition of approximately three dozen pregnancy resource centers shares resources and best practices, encourages one another and works to increase collective impact while upholding the dignity of every human life.
“Pregnancy resource centers and pregnancy help organizations are founded out of a heart for the mission,” said Eileen Lambert, Life Alliance Kansas’ executive director and only employee. “But the [further] west you go in Kansas, the more rural you go, the more isolated they are. They don’t have the funding. They don’t have the resources.”
Many centers serve women and families with limited staff and funding. For example, said Lambert, it costs about $10,000 to train a nurse to perform ultrasounds independently, a service critical to every pregnancy resource center’s mission.
“By having a coalition, by having connections and shared resources, [we know] someone else has figured it out. Let’s not reinvent the wheel,” Lambert said. “There are other people that are doing the same thing. We can work together. We can help each other out.”
Life Alliance Kansas is also working to increase awareness of available services.
“Kansas is an abortion destination state,” Lambert said. “We need to let everybody know that pregnancy resource centers exist [and] exactly what services they offer.”
The coalition held its first major gathering June 18 — a one-day summit in Salina that brought together 90 people from pregnancy centers across the state, including executive directors, board members, nurses and client advocates.
The summit was especially meaningful for staff members who often cannot attend larger national conferences, Lambert said.
“A lot of the other staff, the client advocates, the nurses, the administrative assistants don’t,” she said. “So, this was something they got to go to and be in a room with 100 people and know that they’re not alone.”
The coalition’s work also extends to advocacy. A legislative session at the summit included training from Lucrecia Nold of the Kansas Catholic Conference. Lambert previously worked with Nold and several centers to support the Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression Act, which became law on July 1 through a legislative override.
Pregnancy resource center leaders say the collaboration has strengthened their work.
“I think it’s important that we link arms and work together,” said Leah Conner, executive director of Wyandotte Pregnancy Clinic. “I think we’re stronger, much stronger together. . . . If we can be more in solidarity, I think we’ll be more effective.”
McKenzie Murley, executive director of Sparrow Women’s Health Clinic in Lansing, said the coalition has helped reduce the isolation that can come with ministry work.
“It just always fills my cup when I’m able to spend time with others who are laboring in the same vineyard, who have similar struggles,” Murley said.
“It was an uplifting and encouraging day,” she added.
For more information about Life Alliance Kansas, visit: www.lifeallianceks.org.
