{{Short description|Canadian anti-abortion organization}} '''Birthright International''' is an international organization of crisis pregnancy centers. It offers a range of services, to an estimated 10 million women,<ref name="catholicregister">{{cite web |last=Conlon |first=Mickey |date=2018-06-05 |title=Birthright marks a half century of service |url=https://www.catholicregister.org/item/27515-birthright-marks-a-half-century-of-service |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=The Catholic Register}}</ref> designed to "help support a woman's desire not to have an abortion," including referrals to legal, medical and psychological services, as well as a range of community support assistance such as financial aid.<ref name="Love">{{cite book | last = Genovesi | first = Vincent J. | title = In Pursuit of Love: Catholic Morality and Human Sexuality | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RLzl97KJIVcC&pg=PA389 | access-date = 2013-09-27 | publisher = Liturgical Press | year = 1996 | location = Collegeville, Minn. | page=389 | isbn = 0-8146-5590-4}}</ref><ref name=NYT_1972 > {{ cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/11/archives/abortion-opponents-active.html | title=Abortion Opponents Active | last=Burns | first=Ruth Ann | newspaper=The New York Times | date=1972-06-11 | access-date=2020-09-09 | quote=Last December, months before a Federal court ruled that New Jersey's abortion law was unconstitutionally vague and an invasion of women's right to privacy, the first office of Birthright in the state opened its doors. Today, the organization, which helps women seeking an alternative to abortion, has offices operating in six more cities ... She also announced that Birthright International which is a voluntary organization formed to assist and advise pregnant women considering abortion, ... Each office averages 50 calls a week from girls distressed by pregnancy, with an average of 20 girls coming in to the office for follow‐up help. Birthright says it will not refer a young woman to an abortionist. The organization looks upon life as sacred and precious to both the baby and the mother, and viewes abortion as destruction of the unborn child, }} </ref><ref name=AMA_ethics > {{ Cite journal | url=https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/why-crisis-pregnancy-centers-are-legal-unethical/2018-03 | title=Why Crisis Pregnancy Centers Are Legal but Unethical | last1=Bryant | first1=Amy | last2=Swartz | first2=Jonas | journal=AMA Journal of Ethics | date=2018-03-01 | volume=20 | issue=3 | pages=269–277 | doi=10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.pfor1-1803 | pmid=29542437 | access-date=2020-09-09 | quote=Drive down any highway in America, and you might see a sign: “Pregnant? Scared? Call 1-800-555-5555.” Most often, these signs are advertisements for crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). CPCs, sometimes known as “pregnancy resource centers,” “pregnancy care centers,” “pregnancy support centers,” or simply “pregnancy centers,” are organizations that seek to intercept women with unintended or “crisis” pregnancies who might be considering abortion. Their mission is typically to prevent abortions by persuading women that adoption or parenting is a better option. One of the first CPCs opened in 1967 in Hawaii. Most CPCs are religiously affiliated, and a majority are affiliated with a network or umbrella organization such as Birthright International, Care Net, Heartbeat International, or the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. These umbrella organizations offer legal support, ultrasound training, and other services to CPCs. | doi-access=free }} </ref>
The organization, founded in 1968 by Louise Summerhill<ref>{{cite web | url=https://birthright.org/learn/ | title=Learn – Birthright }}</ref> has its international headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, having originated at Coxwell and Danforth.<ref name="catholicregister" /><ref name=STAR_2010 > {{ cite news | url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2010/08/07/deception_used_in_counselling_women_against_abortion.html | title=Deception used in counselling women against abortion | last=Smith | first=Joanna | newspaper=Toronto Star | date=2010-08-07 | access-date=2020-09-09 | quote=Canadians for Choice, which tracks access to abortion services across the country, says that in 2008 there were 197 crisis pregnancy centres in Canada ... Many of them are affiliated with the umbrella organizations Canadian Association of Pregnancy Support Services (CAPSS), based in Red Deer, Alta., and Toronto-based Birthright International. }} </ref>
Following the death of Summerhill, her three daughters Louise, Mary Berney and Stephanie Fox, as well as her granddaughter Victoria Summerhill Fox have taken major roles in running the organization.<ref name="catholicregister" />
In July 2022, after the ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'' decision was released in the United States, a Birthright CPC in St. Paul, Minnesota, was vandalized for the seventh time since 2017. MPR News reported that the abortion-rights group Jane's Revenge had claimed responsibility for similar attacks.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Crisis Pregnancy Center' vandalized in St. Paul |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/07/05/crisis-pregnancy-center-vandalized-in-st-paul |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=MPR News |date=5 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{Official website|http://www.birthright.org/}}
{{canada-org-stub}} Category:Legal organizations based in Ontario Category:1968 establishments in Ontario Category:Crisis pregnancy centers Category:Legal advocacy organizations based in Canada Category:Organizations based in Toronto Category:Anti-abortion organizations in Canada