“Next door saves lives:” Women’s Care Center announces second location in FM area

Entering Women’s Care Center in Fargo, you won’t see a check-in desk. This center for pregnant women in downtown Fargo with its cozy living room entryway, looks more like a home than an office.

This design is very intentional, says Angela Wambach, Executive Director of Women’s Care Center.

“We really try to give women a safe, quiet place to process their feelings,” said Angela. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, women who come through our doors don’t want to have an abortion, but feel like they have to. We’re here to help them process their thoughts and feelings—shut out the world for a bit so they can focus on what they want.”

According to their website, Women’s Care Center was founded in 1984 with the mission to help pregnant women choose life for their babies, have healthier pregnancies, become better parents, and take first steps to self-sufficiency. The center has grown to become the largest, most successful pregnancy resource center in America. They serve 30,000 women annually from 35 centers in 12 states. Nine in 10 of these women choose to parent or adopt.

“Our model of care is based on St. Benedict’s rule which includes radical hospitality,” said Angela. “It’s really about us seeing Christ in those who come through our doors and being Christ. Our staff does a great job of seeing people the same day they call or come to the door. Many women feel like they need to hurry and make a decision about their baby right now and get it over with, but one of the things that we share with them is that they actually have a gift of time. Decisions don’t need to be made in one day. We make our best decisions by not making them in a hurry. The gift of time wins every time.”

While Women’s Care Center boldly advertises free and confidential pregnancy testing and ultrasounds on their pink signs along University Drive in Fargo, they also offer significantly more.

“Women can have as many ultrasounds as they need so that they can make a fully informed decision and feel good about that decision,” said Angela. “We also offer education, goal planning, connecting them with area resources and referring agencies. Our weekly classes cover topics like pregnancy, parenting, life skills, nutrition, raising children with character, and positive parenting. Women and their significant other can earn what we call coupons for each service they receive. They can use the coupons like cash in our Crib Club, which has everything from clothing, blankets, diaper bags, cribs, car seats, high chairs, and strollers. It encourages fathers to be a part of the whole process, to help them to become good parents as well.”

In June 2019, Women’s Care Center changed their name/model from First Choice Clinic and moved to their current location. Since then, they’ve tripled the number of women they serve annually. Women’s Care Center now serves 1 in 10 babies born in Cass County. Four hundred babies were born to local Women’s Care Center moms last year.

While this is fantastic news, there’s still much work to be done. Shortly after Roe vs. Wade was overturned in June 2022, Red River Women’s Clinic, where abortions are performed in the area, moved from downtown Fargo to Moorhead, Minn. Women’s Care Center is now three miles away from the women who need them most. For the 80% of Women’s Care Center’s clientele who are poverty level and may not own a vehicle, three miles can feel insurmountable.

So it was with great joy that on Oct. 9, at their Luxury Bingo fundraising event, Angela announced the plan to build a second location in the Fargo-Moorhead area on 3rd Ave North in Moorhead, directly across the street from Red River Women’s Clinic.

“I helped open the Women’s Care Center in Duluth right across from the abortion facility there,” said Angela. “I’ve seen firsthand the impact that you can have by being that close. You sometimes get wrong doors or people who have an abortion scheduled but decide to come to you first for that free ultrasound. That gives us the opportunity to show them their baby and meet with our counselors. Here they find love, hope, and real help to choose life.”

There are three abortion facilities in the state of Minnesota. The Red River Women’s Clinic in Moorhead is the only one of the three without a pregnancy center next door. From their own reporting, Red River Women’s Clinic has provided approximately 20% more abortions since moving to Moorhead. Minnesota is surrounded by states that have abortion bans in place, so many women come from other states to have abortions there.
Women’s Care Center purchased the land for their new location in October 2022.

“We all know that it’s going to be a very life-saving location, especially with everything changing in Minnesota politically, the laws surrounding abortion, and the goals in Minnesota to be a ‘safe haven’ for women. We want to be a true safe haven. Next door saves lives. This is a proven model with Women’s Care Center nationally. Time is of the essence. With each passing week, we are losing the equivalent of a classroom of children to the tragedy of abortion. The sooner we can open this center, the more lives will be saved.”

Women’s Care Center hopes to break ground for their Moorhead location in early 2024 and open late 2024.

“God is with us through everything. Every year our budget goes up, and yet we still make budget every year. We don’t have a lot of excess, but God is good. I know that this is his plan. We wouldn’t have gotten the perfect property we needed otherwise.”

Women’s Care Center hopes to raise $2,700,000 to build the new center in Moorhead. For more information, visit supportwomenscarecenter.org/donate/.