{"id":807,"date":"2022-07-08T04:38:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T04:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=807"},"modified":"2025-09-29T02:59:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T02:59:25","slug":"wall-street-journal-op-ed-by-our-friend-chris-bell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=807","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street Journal op ed by our friend Chris Bell"},"content":{"rendered":"

The co-founder of Good Counsel Homes<\/a>. We have known Chris and his wife Joan Andrews Bell (in fact went to their wedding now that I think about it) for over 30 years. Here's a link to a posting – and the entire text of the op ed beneath the link. Chris won't mind.<\/p>\n

\"Good<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Bell – Wall Street Journal op ed – Crisis Pregnancy Centers<\/a><\/p>\n

Sen. Elizabeth Warren last week called for the federal government to \u201ccrack down\u201d on crisis pregnancy centers and maternity homes such as Good Counsel, the one I founded in New Jersey in 1985. In the 37 years I\u2019ve been working with homeless women, pregnant mothers and babies, I\u2019ve seen how the media smears the pro-life movement. They say we don\u2019t care about women. They say we love children only before they\u2019re born and, in Ms. Warren\u2019s words, that we \u201cmislead and deceive\u201d women into having babies they don\u2019t want. She may believe that, but it isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

At Good Counsel, like many similar organizations throughout the country, we take in any pregnant woman in need. Most come from broken or dysfunctional homes and have nowhere else to go. They are welcome to stay with us for a year or longer. During that time, we help them develop child-rearing skills. We also provide budgeting and vocational assistance, nutritional advice and tips for a healthy lifestyle. Many women choose to work or go back to school. Our staff babysits\u2014free of charge\u2014while new moms begin to build a r\u00e9sum\u00e9. We do everything we can to help connect women to resources and support.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t easy. We have a curfew and a policy against alcohol and drug use. But every line is drawn with compassion and mercy.<\/p>\n

Want to talk about deception? Many of the women who come to us have been told\u2014by doctors, high-school counselors and social-service organizations\u2014that abortion is their only option. They are told that having a baby means they\u2019ll never finish school and won\u2019t have a career. None of this is true, but I hear it every day.<\/p>\n

The hidden reality is that no woman in the U.S. today has to raise a child she conceives. There are safe-haven laws in every state and territory allowing a woman to offer a child anonymously for adoption.<\/p>\n

At Good Counsel, we also help women living with the pain of abortion. I know of no one in the pro-life movement who would condemn a woman for having an abortion. Half the women coming to our facility for help have already had at least one abortion. We don\u2019t throw stones. Many of our volunteers and counselors know the pain of abortion firsthand.<\/p>\n

Want to talk about misleading? Nothing is more misleading than the claim that abortion is simply healthcare, that terminating a pregnancy is the key to a happy life free from unwanted burdens. My experience of talking with and helping more than 4,000 women at Good Counsel over almost four decades tells me that the pain of abortion can be devastating. Nobody should have to face it alone.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson <\/em>has brought renewed attention to the work done by maternity homes and crisis pregnancy centers. \u201cLove them both\u201d is not just a sign we carry at the March for Life every year. It\u2019s the key to ensuring that frightened and abandoned pregnant women understand that they have options other than abortion.<\/p>\n

Ms. Warren is welcome to visit Good Counsel anytime she wants. I think she will see that we don\u2019t mislead or deceive anyone. We stick to the truth, delivered with compassion and mercy.<\/p>\n

Mr. Bell is co-founder and president of Good Counsel Homes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The co-founder of Good Counsel Homes. We have known Chris and his wife Joan Andrews Bell (in fact went to their wedding now that I think about it) for over 30 years. Here's a link to a posting – and the entire text of the op ed beneath the link. Chris won't mind. Chris Bell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7364,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/7364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}