ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — As Kentucky’s trigger law banning most abortions after Roe vs. Wade was overturned has been in legal limbo, organizations helping during unplanned pregnancies want people to know about the services they provide.

In Elizabethtown, Clarity Solutions is a pregnancy center that’s been providing services to women experiencing unplanned and unwanted pregnancies for over 20 years. Clarity Solutions has always offered free ultrasounds, information about abortion procedures, classes, supplies and adoption services for women and their partners, should they choose to move forward with a pregnancy.

However, since last summer, the center has been offering a special new service that can make all the difference for some women who are pregnant and struggling with resources—housing at a home called, “The Haven.”

For Clarity’s president and CEO, Laura Dickinson, The Haven is a passion project.

With all the comforts of home and some extra help for younger ladies who need it, Dickinson explained standing in the house, “24/7 this is staffed with loving professionals who help them learn how to cook or make meals and do responsibilities and chores.”

Dickinson dreamed up The Haven and worked hard to open it after years of feeling compassion for women going through unplanned pregnancies. She recalls facing a scary situation herself while living in pricey Los Angeles on a missionary’s small salary when she got pregnant.

“I just remember thinking if I’m feeling so scared about providing and petrified about being pregnant and I have a husband and a full-time job and a roof over my head, how do women who get pregnant who don’t have those things feel? I just really couldn’t even wrap my head around it,” she said.

The Haven opened in July 2022. Dickinson says since Roe v. Wade was overturned, allowing near total abortion bans in states like Kentucky, more women are looking for help from pregnancy centers.

“Since that summer law went into effect, our numbers have increased,” Dickinson said. “There’s been fewer options. Abortion tourism has to be an option for them if they do want to consider abortion right now, and so, we’re needed more now than ever, really. Women are looking for services to help them parent or set up an adoption plan.”

Connecting expecting birth moms who choose not to keep their babies with adoptive families is another big part of what Dickinson’s team does.          

She’s become close with families like the Simpsons from Vine Grove.

Laura and Brandon Simpson couldn’t have biological children, but have their two sons thanks to Clarity and other agencies like it.

“They’re absolutely meant to be here for a reason,” Laura Simpson said.

She and Brandon adopted their oldest son, JB, in 2017, then adopted again right around the time the pandemic started.

Their second time adopting was a longer process. They waited two-and-a-half years until one evening they got a call from their adoption agency saying a baby had just been born at the hospital down the road and could be theirs.

“We loaded up with no diapers or anything,” the parents recalled.

They learned their new son, Aggie’s birth mom, had gone to Clarity Solutions when she first learned she was pregnant, then took the abortion pills.

However, they say the pills didn’t work for her and she went back to Clarity, still pregnant, to get help to find someone to adopt the baby.

“We weren’t sure, like, ‘Is he going to be healthy? Is he going to be fine?’ But we knew that God put us in that position, so you know, we were fine with accepting whatever came of this. You know, if he was special needs, we were okay with that. And he’s fine. He is perfectly fine. He meets all of his benchmarks. He fights with his brother. They love on each other. He’s just really sweet. He’s just a huge blessing, and he’s a miracle!” Laura said.

The Simpsons believe Aggie’s adoption was meant to be.

Nightlight Christian Adoption, which was the adoption agency based in Lexington that Clarity worked with, let the birth mom choose who she would like to adopt Aggie. She had her pick of families all across the country but picked the Simpsons, living in the same county as her, because she recognized Brandon. He was a volunteer coach for a basketball team she’d played on 15 years earlier.

“We’re so thankful that she graced the doors here and felt a loving connection and was able to call back when she was still, you know, panicking after what she thought was going to happen didn’t happen,” Laura said. “You know, like, God sent her here, and we know that.”

Now at almost two-years-old, Aggie is reaching new milestones. His and JB’s birth mothers still meet up with the Simpsons to see the boys sometimes.

“You just love them and respect them so much,” Brandon said. “I think they’re very overlooked as far as how strong of a woman they are, and they need the support that clarity gives them.”

Clarity Solutions offers its services for free to anyone of any age, regardless of income or insurance.

Clarity is part of a network of nearly 50 pregnancy centers across the state doing similar work as a member of the Kentucky Association of Pregnancy Care Agencies.

Most counties have similar centers that can help women experiencing unplanned pregnancies.