New Pregnancy Help Center opens in Fort Lauderdale

By Rocio Granados - La Voz Catolica

MIAMI | In an effort to be closer to those who need it most, the Archdiocese of Miami's Respect Life Ministry has opened a new Pregnancy Help Center in Fort Lauderdale.

On Aug. 13, 2022, Archbishop Thomas Wenski blessed the new Central Broward office located at 2151 East Commercial Boulevard, Suite #301 in Fort Lauderdale, during a brief ceremony also attended by the Respect Life Ministry’s Deacon James Dugard; Father Michael Garcia, pastor of St. Coleman Church in Pompano Beach; Father Edgardo De Los Santos, administrator ofSt. John the Baptist Parish in Fort Lauderdale; Father Ryan Saunders, priest-secretary to the archbishop; and staff and volunteers of the Respect Life Ministry.

The new center resulted from the merger of two centers in Broward County, one located north of the current office, in Margate, and the other to the south, near East Sunrise Boulevard, also in Fort Lauderdale.

The new Central Broward center is located right next to an abortion clinic on East Commercial Boulevard. That proximity is very important. “If we want to save lives and souls we need to be where the people are and where they need to be ministered to," said Angela Curatalo, archdiocesan director of Respect Life.

Curatalo thanked the ministry’s staff "who have been very supportive of all the changes," and the archbishop for blessing the center.

For his part, Archbishop Wenski said that "our opposition to abortion isn't really a religious issue. It's a human rights issue because our religion tells us an unborn baby is a human being."

Referring to the June 24 Dobbs ruling by the Supreme Court, which overturned the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the archbishop said that "the question really that's being debated in our country today, with the pushback against [Dobbs], is now not about the facts of biology or science. It's about the value of life."

Since the new center opened its doors in May, at least a half dozen women "never made it into the abortion site and came to our center instead," said Curatalo. "You are seeing a difference, especially when we have advocates on the sidewalks and people praying in front (of the abortion center) who give them life-affirming information and send them to us."

The Respect Life Ministry works closely with Sidewalk Advocates for Life, people who stand on the streets with anti-abortion and pro-life signs. "It's an organized effort," said Curatalo, adding that Respect Life has a representative in each parish and some of them gather groups and pray every weekend outside an abortion clinic.

"They're not the people out there shouting bad things at them. They're approaching them with peace, prayer, and love, loving concern, and offering them alternatives," Curatalo said.

According to statistics from the Respect Life Ministry, most of the women they serve are over the age of 30, "they already have like two kids, and they don't want to have the third because they are overwhelmed," said Marcella Villegas, an ultrasound technician at the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center.

Statistics show that the main reason women resort to abortion is socioeconomic, Curatalo said. Fortunately, "we can help with all of that."

The Pregnancy Help centers provide free services such as pregnancy tests and ultrasounds if the expectant mother is more than eight weeks pregnant. An ultrasound serves "to know that the baby is where it needs to be, that it has a heartbeat and that it is developing," explained Cristina Criado, coordinator of the new Central Broward office.

At the same time, when a woman is thinking about an abortion, the ultrasound allows them “to hear the [baby's] heartbeat. When they hear it as moms, many change their minds," said Criado.

Pregnancy Help centers provide the opportunity for expectant mothers — indeed expecting parents — “to realize that their baby is alive," said Deacon Dugard.

In addition to providing ultrasounds, the Pregnancy Help centers provide support to mothers from pregnancy through the child's second birthday, with prenatal and post-natal classes in English and Spanish. They provide assistance such as diapers, clothing, formula and many other things, Criado noted.

They also help with housing and immigration, among other issues. "We really try to get their whole story, find out what areas of their life they need help in, and refer them to the right places," said Curatalo.

Currently, the Respect Life Ministry has three centers strategically located to serve all of South Florida. The South Broward center is located on Hollywood Boulevard and covers from north Miami-Dade to south Broward; the South Dade center, located in the Kendall area, covers central and southern Miami-Dade County; and the Central Broward center serves central and northern Broward.

FIND OUT MORE

• For more information about the services provided by the Archdiocese of Miami's Respect Life Pregnancy Help centers, visit https://respectlifemiami.org; email: [email protected]; or call 954-981-2922, Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The Central Broward Pregnancy Help Center is located at 2151 East Commercial Blvd., Suite #301, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308. Phone: 954-565-0229.