Signs of the times

Abortion | A Texas pregnancy center finds itself a target of a national campaign to use local politics to undermine pro-life counseling services | Susan Olasky

Photo by Keith Vandiver/Genesis

AUSTIN, Texas—Austin LifeCare pregnancy center owns a light green building on a busy road about five miles north of the University of Texas. Painted floral topiaries flank the front door. The center is pretty. Its soft green and purple color scheme is a holdover from the 1990s. It's feminine but not frilly.

Pam Cobern, LifeCare's executive director, wants to update the center's decor and make it less feminine so as to welcome the increasing number of men who now come to the center. But that's in the future. Right now she's dealing with a new law the Austin City Council has imposed on LifeCare and three other pro-life centers. The law mandates that they post signs stating, "This center does not provide abortions or refer to abortion providers. This center does not provide or refer to providers of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved birth control drugs and medical devices."