To the editor:

After reading the two opinion pieces concerning the Adirondack Pregnancy Center, I decided to do some research of my own. I looked the website of the local center here in Palestine (Texas), some of the people and organizations referenced, and spoke with some of the peer counselors and professionals at the center. After doing so, it is my opinion that both of the writers know not of what they write. 

Our local center is called Living Alternatives of Palestine. On its website, https://www.lapalestine.org, it lists all its services. If you choose to look over this website, you will notice all information offered is well referenced. And yes, there is a section on abortion, and they do offer pre- and post-abortion counseling. 

In my opinion, the piece titled “Women’s choice doesn’t seem to be pregnancy center’s priority” relies on the work of Andrea Swartzendruber, who is the principal investigator for the Pregnancy Resource Center Evaluation. Their website is https://rise.emory.edu. Looking at their “fact sheets,” it is my opinion that they are fixated with abortion and promoting abortions. Just the topics they pick — “Medication Abortion Reversal,” “Later Abortion Bans,” “Judicial Bypass,” to name a few — shows their true mission, in my opinion. 

One more item I noticed: All references on the Living Alternatives of Palestine website offer links to the articles. The references on the rise.emory.edu website offer no links and mostly seem to be dead or do not “jive” with the article, again in my opinion.

Dan Ward

Palestine, Texas, and Saranac Lake