A Wyoming pregnancy center executive director managed a social media dustup with grace as she responded through her local newspaper, taking the opportunity to educate readers about her center. Presentations at previous Heartbeat International Annual Conferences equipped her to respond in defense without being combative.
Kimi Seymour is the executive director of Inside Connection in Rock Spring.
Abortion has been a hot topic in Wyoming in recent weeks following passage of the state’s heartbeat bill, spurring disputes between those on both sides of the issue.
This past February a discussion erupted on social media involving the closing of Western Wyoming Family Planning, a facility that offered Plan B, but did not offer the abortion pill.
When social media discussion ensued about the family planning facility closing, someone commented that Inside Connection would be a helpful alternative resource. This sparked a series of accusations that Inside Connection was fake and “enticing people” into the center.
“The comments became defamatory,” Seymour said.
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At first, she decided the center would respond by posting positive client reviews.
“But it got worse,” Seymour said.
Around the time she made some inquiries about how to respond and considered a statement addressing the comments, a reporter from the local newspaper, Rocket Minor, contacted Seymour requesting her perspective for a story about the matter.
Seymour said she knew the reporter from high school, but she also knew that the reporter was “pro-choice.”
Seymour prepared for the interview with prayer, knowing that her words could easily be twisted and printed to favor abortion bias.
“I asked the Lord, ‘Please don’t let me say what I shouldn’t say,’” Seymour said.
She then recalled her “years of training” through workshops at Heartbeat conferences. The messages she had taken to heart were recalled at this moment when she needed it most.
“Every Heartbeat conference has been different for me,” Seymour said. “The Lord has been faithful in filling me with information.”
Seymour said she reflected on apologetics and recalled how to “let truth present itself and not let anger get in the way.” The heavy reliance of faith at each Heartbeat Conference has always been moving to Seymour.
“Heartbeat is always spiritually uplifting,” she said.
During the interview, the reporter asked to record the interview, and Seymour chose to also record the conversation.
“We talked for an hour,” she said. “There was a lot she left out of the story, but I was ok with how she left it.”
In the printed version, which appeared on March 2, Seymour addressed each of the criticisms fueling local conversation and social media posts. She noted the fact the center does not give away contraception.
She pointed out that while the center’s policy is not to provide contraception, they do in fact provide information and education about it.
The Western Wyoming Family Planning listed its “services offered” which included emergency contraception and family planning/birth control services. Seymour stated in the interview that the center does not offer the same services as WWFP but could still be a helpful resource for those facing unplanned pregnancies, including medical grade pregnancy testing, and ultrasounds for the purpose of pregnancy viability and gestational age.
She also addressed the options counseling provided at Inside Connection, emphasizing the significance of informed consent in any medical environment setting.
Seymour even suggested centers like hers are in fact “pro-choice” because they present education on all options to clients so that they can make the best decision.
Tweet This: Pregnancy centers present education on all options to clients so that they can make the best decision.
She later commented how pregnancy centers are there for women following any choice they make, whether it's to continue to parent or to get emotional support following an abortion.
“It’s your choice to make,” Seymour said, and there is significance in being educated on each and every option.
Following the article’s publishing, some negativity lingered online with people suggesting Inside Connection was not being transparent. Seymour said her employees have invited naysayers to visit the center and “see for yourself” what is offered.
She said the center’s clients themselves have spoken up and said, “See for yourself” by visiting the center. Some clients had included the fact that they were “pro-choice” but still saw value in the resources provided.
Inside Connection is one of 10 pregnancy centers in Wyoming, the only pregnancy center in the Sweet Water County area, with six employees and 15 volunteers. The next closest pregnancy center is two and a half hours away. The closest abortion facility is in Jackson, Wyo., in the central part of the state, nearly three hours from Inside Connection, or across state lines in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Seymour said she will be attending this year’s Heartbeat International Conference in Ohio and is looking forward to another educational and spiritual experience that will help her lead her center.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
