A Kansas pregnancy help center “prayed itself” into a spot next door to the opposition. Ten years later, it is thriving in its location within yards of the largest Planned Parenthood in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Two Lines Pregnancy Clinic in Overland Park, Kan. is celebrating the decade milestone of its bold move.
The center has been in existence since 1983 with various locations and satellite centers. Today it is one large center doing the work of multiple pregnancy centers in the heart of an abortion battleground.
Ruth Tisdale is the executive director of Two Lines and has been at the helm since 2005. In 2016 the center was operating in two separate areas just a short distance apart.
Tisdale said she was made aware by the previous executive director that there had been a strategic plan to have a center “close to an abortion clinic.” In 2009, Tisdale said, Two Lines was in a building where an abortion clinic was visible but was not exactly a neighbor.
A building next to the local Planned Parenthood became available in 2009, but Tisdale said, “no one would rent to us.”
Tisdale kept praying.
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In 2015 Tisdale was driving past the Planned Parenthood on Granada Street.
“I saw a ‘for rent’ sign,” she said.
“When I saw it, my heart came out of my chest,” she said.
Tisdale called a friend whom she knew was an acquaintance of the owner.
“(My friend) said she had been praying for a pregnancy center to come in,” Tisdale recalled.
Initially the owner wanted to rent the upstairs portion of the building that faced the current Two Lines location. Tisdale, in the meantime, was trying to get financial support. The owner of the building eventually said he could not rent that part of the building to Two Lines because someone else was willing to move in sooner.
“We did all kinds of research to see what the possibilities were to move into this part of town,” she said.
Tisdale’s board of directors for Two Lines told her there were three options to afford the move: a capital campaign, close the second location in Shawnee, Kan, or someone would have to pass away and will money to the center.
The next day when the mail arrived at the Shawnee center, a letter revealed that a man had passed away and left two annuities to Two Lines.
Tisdale said there was no record in their database of this man being a previous supporter. She reached out to a financial expert asking about the significance of the annuities. She learned the total amount donated was $111,000.
“I was shaking,” Tisdale said. “It was absolutely obvious at that point.”
Tisdale returned to the owner of the building who still had space available downstairs. The owner pointed out that the downstairs available space “faces Planned Parenthood.”
Tisdale said she knew in her heart this was where they were meant to be, yet she knew the potential for friction existed.
“The reality of them next door was quite evident,” she said, as the front window provided a clear view of the abortion provider.
Tisdale said those first few years were a journey that she wrote about in her journal almost daily.
Setbacks and opposition ensued years before the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.
Volunteers left the center for fear of the backlash.
While opposition to the pregnancy center existed, another obstacle was individuals who opposed abortion and stood on the sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood holding graphic signs and yelling unkind words to women entering the abortion facility.
“The signs were not pretty,” Tisdale said. “These folks parked in our parking lot. We had to have conversations with them asking them to please move their cars so that we had space for our clients and staff.”
The Shawnee pregnancy center eventually closed and merged with the new Granada street location. Staff members increased from 15 to 32.
The tense moments continued outside the center.
“Some people got very upset with us,” she said, and some threatened to remove their church’s support from Two Lines.
Thankfully, Tisdale said, this never happened.
Another obstacle was confusion among some clients as to whether or not the center provided abortions. The center welcomes walk-ins and Tisdale said some women would turn around and walk to Planned Parenthood when they realized their mistake. However, others would stay and get an ultrasound and were willing to talk about their options.
“Sixty percent of our walk-ins stay and receive services,” she said.
It took time, Tisdale said, for client numbers to increase as the center adjusted to the new environment. In time, Two Lines saw a dramatic increase in abortion minded clients as opposed to abortion vulnerable clients.
Tisdale said a monument sign was added at the entrance to the center that listed “Pregnancy and Abortion Information. Free Services. Walk-ins welcome.”
The sign was a turning point for Two Lines. The move to put the term “pregnancy” before “abortion” provided additional clarity so that clients would not assume abortions were performed in this space, but that information about abortion was available.
“It also helped us because Planned Parenthood is not free, nor does it take walk-ins (at that location),” Tisdale said.
The increase in abortion-minded clients presented a need at the center they had not previously experienced.
“(Clients) were not necessarily in need of education,” she said. “There was more of a need for domestic services, healthcare, addiction, childcare.”
The pregnancy center added social workers to their staff, an addition that provided relief to the present employees and volunteers.
“(Adding the social workers) has allowed us to meet practical needs and needs that were much deeper than referrals,” Tisdale said.
Tisdale said the center had added services not typically found at pregnancy centers at the time.
“We had women asking for follow-up care after their abortions,” she said.
The medical advisors for the center agreed to provide post-abortive assessments for up to six weeks after an abortion. The client meets with a nurse and a social worker at that time.
Two Lines also has two physicians on standby for Abortion Pill Reversal patients as well.
A men’s program was added in 2020 that provided parenting education and support to fathers.
That upstairs office space they had previously not been able to rent has since become available again. Two Lines now occupies that space for administration and staff and classrooms for larger groups.
All of this additional need and activity bring additional cost.
The center has been graced with a tremendous increase in donations and support.
“We have been financially blessed with donors,” Tisdale said. “They have given money for clients’ needs such as car repairs, rent and food.”
Tisdale said the clients have been coming from not just the metro area but have made their way from Arkansas and Houston.
Women who have experienced abortions at the facility next door have grieved outside the Two Lines office and have been met with support from volunteers and staff.
“The women we are seeing are so broken,” Tisdale said, “Our team here exudes Christ-like compassion. I’m such a proud mama.”
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More information about mission and growth of Two Lines Pregnancy Clinic is available at the pregnancy help organization’s podcast.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pil Reversal.
