Ryan Archives - Care Net Peninsula

August 18, 2022September 16, 2022

2022 Summer Newsletter

Summer 2022 Newsletter

Recently a friend of mine shared a personal story of how abortion impacted her. A relative was facing an unplanned pregnancy, and she had the opportunity to counsel her about what to do.

Her relative shared she was planning to have an abortion because she wasn’t ready to be a mom. However, she also shared that she wasn’t sure if that was the right choice and that her faith was part of the decision.

My friend listened and then encouraged her to keep the baby and to consider adoption if she wasn’t ready to be a mom. She noted the potential for guilt and anxiety if she went through with a decision she had doubts about. She also counseled her to consider her faith and what the Bible says about babies in the womb.

Her relative ended up choosing to keep the baby. My friend threw her a baby shower, invited her to church, and offered to continue to help however she could.

Here’s how the media would report about my friend:

Fake Therapist Targets Vulnerable Woman With Misinformation

Forced-Birth Activist Claims Abortion Causes Mental Disorders

Biased and outright false critiques of pregnancy centers have been around for a long time. The difference right now is that the critics are holding the microphone.

Normally, I would dismiss it as noise and plow ahead. After all, I look to Christ for validation, not NBC News.

But the sheer volume of recent critiques paired with the crafty, nice-sounding ways they’re presented is enough for me to pause to respond to the most common myths you might be hearing.

I pray that every member of the Care Net Family: you, me, volunteers, and staff would remain steadfast and “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season will reap, if we do not give up.”

MYTH #1:

Overturning Roe ended abortion in Virginia

Overturning Roe will save thousands of babies this year, but not here in Virginia. The Supreme Court did not end abortion in America. Instead, they returned the decision to the states. In Virginia, abortion is still legal until the 25th week of pregnancy with almost NO restrictions.

MYTH #2:

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care."

This tweet from Senator Elizabeth Warren is not true. Nowhere on our website or in our marketing do we make false claims about the services we provide. We do not perform or refer for abortion; we state this clearly and unequivocally when clients ask about our services. Additionally, in 2019 Google started including a disclaimer with all of our ads that says, “does not provide abortions“.

We are proud to provide counseling to women seeking abortions. You can counsel effectively and honestly about something without encouraging it. Anyone who’s had “The Talk” with their teenager has had such a conversation.

We are so effective at this that even the abortion clinic down the street refers clients to us who aren’t sure if they want an abortion.

MYTH #3:

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers exist solely to intercept and dissuade pregnant people from making fully informed decisions about their healthcare such as the choice to obtain an abortion."

This myth is a direct quote from a letter written by the New York Attorney General to Google’s CEO urging them to erase us from all search results. In reality, our licensed, registered nurses provide pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and factual abortion information to clients at NO COST to them.

The women we serve voluntarily seek our counsel because they view the decision to abort their baby as complex: impacting them physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

This myth relies on the premise that sharing information that may reveal the humanity of unborn children (like an ultrasound) or any conversation that implies a moral component to an abortion decision is peddling misinformation. At Care Net Peninsula, we reject that premise!

It was pro-abortion legislators in Virginia who, in 2020, voted to eliminate the ultrasound requirement and 24-hour waiting period that gave pregnant women the time and information they needed to “make a fully informed decision about their healthcare.”

MYTH #4:

Crisis Pregnancy Centers' staff are not licensed, medical professionals.

FALSE! A licensed OB/GYN oversees clinic operations as our Medical Director. In addition, our Registered Nurses are trained to perform limited ultrasounds to confirm pregnancies.

Dr. Jerrid Neeley, DO, OB/GYN

Medical Director

Kinta Dye, RN, BSN

Nurse Manager

Meg Williams, RN, BSN

Nurse Manager

Karla Laskowski, RN, BSN

Staff Nurse

Patty Shuster, RN

volunteer nurse

MYTH #5:

Government money is used to help fund CPCs

Care Net Peninsula does not receive funding from the government. We even decline the Medicaid payments we’re entitled to for the medical services we provide to clients.

All our funding is from local individuals and churches who stand with us to provide help and hope to local women and babies in our community.

Click Here

Ryan Holloway, Executive Director

August 18, 2022

Read More News Updates

Get to Know Rachel!

February 19, 2024

Over the years, God has been very gracious to our team by bringing the right people to the mission at just the right time, and we’re excited for you to meet our newest team member, Rachel González.

2023 Year-End Letter from Our Executive Director

December 12, 2023

Together, we can continue to be that place of miracles and transformation for countless women and families in need. When you make a year-end gift to Care Net Peninsula, you are providing the help and hope that women need to choose life for their baby.

Giving Tuesday 2023

November 28, 2023

Today, on Giving Tuesday, will you join us in providing the gift of LIFE to hundreds of pre-born babies across the Peninsula?

Save the Date: Giving Tuesday 2023

November 21, 2023

For Giving Tuesday 2023, we invite you to join us in taking a stand for life by giving a life-saving gift by providing ONE DAY of ultrasounds to our clinic to serve the women wondering what to do next when facing an unplanned pregnancy.

July 22, 2022August 3, 2022

Executive Director Update: Some Good News!

Executive Director Update:
Some Good News!

Hey Care Net Family – Ryan here with an update for you! I have some exciting news to share, but I want to give a shameless plug before I do.

About every month, I send an update out to our Defender4Life community. The idea is that our Defenders4Life are our regular investors in our ministry. So, we want to give them a behind-the-scenes look at what is going on here at Care Net Peninsula and our clinic – the good, the bad, and the ugly. These updates let you know how we use your investment and learn about prayer needs.

With so much going on since Roe’s overturning, updates have been going out to a much broader audience. If you have liked receiving those updates and are interested in what is happening behind the scenes here at CNP, I encourage you to pray about becoming part of the Defender4Life community.

Monthly givers are a critical funding source for our ministry, and this community serves as a great way to stay in touch with what is happening behind the scenes.

So with that – here is today’s update.

You’ve heard me share about the violence Pregnancy Centers are facing since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Thankfully, we haven’t been hit yet! It seems all of this is in our rearview mirror, and we thank you for your prayers – but do ask that you keep praying for our safety and protection.

In addition, the more significant threat, in my opinion, was the number of politicians, including Senator Warner here in Virginia, writing and signing letters to Google’s CEO encouraging them to shut down pregnancy centers from the internet to eliminate us from search results entirely.

That is a big deal! If this were to happen, we would have a MAJOR problem on our hands.

To try to combat this, I have reached out to a few of you to see if there was a politician or someone you may know that I could connect with who might encourage Google not to do this, someone that would be willing to defend our rights to exist.

The Care Net Family came through … you connected me with Jason Miyares, the Attorney General of Virginia.

Mr. Miyares invited me to join a small gathering last week to discuss all that is happening. After this meeting, I was able to have some facetime with him to let him know just how important this issue is.

Not only did Mr. Miyares agree, he also agreed to defend the right for pregnancy centers to continue serving not just here on the Peninsula but across the country.

Mr. Miyares wrote his own letter to Google, and 14 other Attorney Generals signed on and sent this letter to Google yesterday – defending pregnancy centers and their ability to continue serving women in their communities.

On one level, does this really need to be defended?

But in fact – it does!

I was honored that Mr. Miyares would take our request seriously and that he took such swift and direct action.

To read the letter, click here. I thought it was powerful, it was well said, and it applies to our ministry and others outside the walls of pregnancy centers.

I don’t think any of us want Google to determine what is right or wrong for our community.

Praise God that this was an answer to prayer, but please continue to pray as this is an ongoing issue.

And one last little caveat, Care Net Peninsula has not gone any more political than we were before. We continue to serve moms and save babies, the same mission we’ve always had.

However, when politicians come after us, I see it as my responsibility to defend our ability to continue to serve in the community. And that is what we did here.

I was honored that Jason Miyares would take up our cause and fight with us. And I pray that he is successful and that we aren’t removed from the internet as Mark Warner called for us to be.

THANK YOU for your prayers. Please continue to join us in serving this ministry and our community.