FRANKLIN — For nearly 20 years, the Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center has provided free resources to pregnant women facing challenges to help them choose life for their unborn children.
Recently, with a $9,000 grant from Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, SMPCC has added “Harmoni,” a new mobile ultrasound unit, to bolster their outreach efforts to abortion-minded women – particularly those headed to Planned Parenthood in Asheville.
Elizabeth Harris, a parishioner of St. Margaret Mary Church in Swannanoa, leads the Sidewalk Advocates for Life of Asheville. She says she and the other SAFL volunteers are partnering with the SMPCC to offer a peaceful presence out on the sidewalk near Planned Parenthood and to serve as the gateway from the abortion facility to the Harmoni mobile ultrasound unit.
“It’s such a blessing (to have the mobile unit) because some of the other pregnancy care centers are not open on Saturdays,” Harris explains. “The goal is for Harmoni to be on the frontlines of the abortion facility to offer that initial screening and ultrasound and then to refer clients to their nearest pregnancy care center for longer-term support.”
SAFL volunteers hold help-oriented signs for women to see as they approach the abortion facility. The signs show arrows pointing to the mobile unit.
“We strategically place people for high visibility and also have advocates positioned in the driveway to give out literature and gift bags to men and women driving in and out,” Harris says.
Immaculate Conception parishioner Jack Bride is a volunteer with SAFL who saw a great need for a mobile ultrasound unit outside Planned Parenthood. Bride approached his pastor, Father Christian Cook, and appealed to him and the parish finance council for the funds necessary to help provide the SMPCC mobile ultrasound unit.
The $9,000 parish grant will cover most of the operating costs for the Harmoni mobile unit for one year.
“This is going to give women in Asheville a resource they’ve never had,” Bride says.
He spends hours each week outside Planned Parenthood handing out information and praying for the women and men who drive past him into the facility parking lot.
“It’s not something that I am necessarily good at,” he says humbly. “I’m white haired, 75 years old. I know some women would prefer to talk with me than with other women, (but) generally they want to speak to other women.”
Bride plans to continue to raise awareness and funds for the mobile unit not just within the Catholic community, but in the Asheville area at large.
“I told (the SMPCC) board of directors, ‘You’ve done your part, now in terms of operating costs, we in Asheville should be addressing the plague of abortion in our area with our financial support.’”
Carol Tucker, a registered nurse with SMPCC, is a parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Bryson City. She specializes in obstetrics and works two days a week for the pregnancy care center. She helps staff the Harmoni mobile unit and understands how crucial it can be in saving the life of a child whose mother is in a crisis pregnancy situation.
“I can see the reality, the grievous looks on their faces (when women come out of the abortion facility),” she says. “The only person who has to live with this is the woman who has the abortion. … There’s this sense of inconsolable grief.”
Tucker administers free pregnancy tests to the women who come on board. If they are in need of an ultrasound, she performs a special screening and if that checks out, performs the ultrasound.
“Catholics and the public need to know that our prayers are being answered,” she says.
Tucker hopes SMPCC will be able to find more locations to park the Harmoni unit throughout western North Carolina so women can come on board for free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and to receive information on resources available to them to help carry their babies to term and provide support for the families who need it.
Harris and SAFL Asheville would also like to see more businesses say yes to hosting the mobile unit.
“This is a free community resource. How can you say no to that?” she says. “We’re really excited (about the mobile unit). It’s really motivating the Sidewalk Advocates for Life. It is inspiring my team in Asheville.
“It’s difficult to go out there every week. The unit is beautiful, and we are excited at what God is going to do.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Need help?
Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center serves women in western North Carolina. SMPCC is open Monday-Thursday at two locations: 226 E. Palmer Street,
Franklin (phone 828-349-3200) and 117 Monteith Gap Road, Cullowhee (828-293-3600 or text 720-767-2262). For more information about SMPCC’s free and confidential services and the Harmoni mobile unit, go online to www.smokymountainpregnancycarecenter.org. To donate, go online to https://smokypartners.com/give.
Learn more
Sidewalk Advocates for Life in western North Carolina is online at www.sidewalkadvocates.org/location/asheville-nc. Questions? Contact Elizabeth Harris at 828-214-7789 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. SAFL Asheville will offer basic training on Oct. 16 during Respect Life month.