Providing a range of services to women experiencing crisis pregnancies, the nonprofit organization Real Alternatives serves the residents of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana. Using government funding by those three states, Real Alternatives works with its partner service providers to offer free counseling, as well as practical assistance to pregnant women and new mothers, many of whom have nowhere else to turn for help.
One of the first steps in assisting women who are struggling with the choice of whether or not to seek an abortion is to understand the reasons why abortion may appear to be a solution. A survey in the mid-1980s of hundreds of women who already had an abortion found that 83% of them said if someone would have helped them through the unexpected pregnancy, they would not have aborted their baby. A 2004 study of more than 1,000 patients at abortion facilities showed that women who sought abortions said that they did so because they couldn't afford to be a parent, or a child would limit their ability to pursue educational or employment prospects, as well as prevent them from caring for other children and family members.
Another study found that close to two-thirds of all abortions in the United States are performed for women earning 200 percent or less of the federal poverty limit.
The counselors at the Real Alternatives service providers can be that "one person" to specifically assist women pressured by the factors to abort and empower them to work around these stressors so they need not feel they have to abort their baby.
