world
Idaho Pregnancy Center Plans Expansion After Local Hospital Closes Labor Unit
A Sandpoint, Idaho pregnancy center is expanding services three years after the town's hospital closed its labor and delivery unit. The center offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and support classes while seeking to add weekly prenatal care from an out-of-state physician.
Audio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
A pregnancy center in Sandpoint, Idaho, is expanding its services three years after the local hospital closed its labor and delivery unit and its OB-GYNs left the state. 7B Care Clinic, formerly known as Life Choices Pregnancy Center, has operated in the town since 2001.
The center provides pregnancy tests, limited ultrasounds, parenting classes, and free children's clothing funded by donations and more than 40 local churches.
Shepard said traffic at the center has increased since the hospital closure. The organization plans to add space to its current building and is in talks with a hospital 30 miles away in Washington state to bring an OB-GYN to Sandpoint once a week for prenatal care.
Shepard said the center discusses abortion, adoption, and parenting options with clients and encourages what it calls life-affirming decisions. The center is an affiliate of Care Net, a network of about 1,200 similar Christian evangelical organizations.
Sandpoint resident Jen Jackson Quintano, founder of the Pro-Voice Project, said the centers draw women in with free services before presenting an anti-abortion message. She said patients need clarity that the services are ministry-first rather than comprehensive medical care.
Andrea Swartzendruber, an associate professor at the University of Georgia College of Public Health, said crisis pregnancy centers have capitalized on gaps in healthcare access. U.S. as of 2024. Licensed midwife Lori Sabin said the free services help people without insurance or who face travel barriers.
Former OB-GYN Amelia Huntsberger, who left Sandpoint three years ago, acknowledged benefits from parenting classes but raised concerns about the center resembling a medical facility.
Crisis pregnancy centers are largely unregulated and protected by First Amendment rights. U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed centers to challenge a state attorney general's subpoena for donor information. On May 10, the Department of Health and Human Services launched a website that includes a map to pregnancy centers and lists services such as pregnancy tests and ultrasounds.
