The Appalachian Pregnancy Care Center officially cut the ribbon on April 19 for its new, expanded facility, located at 118 Loraine Street in Pikeville.
PIKEVILLE — The Appalachian Pregnancy Care Center officially cut the ribbon for its new, expanded facility on April 19, and officials are hopeful for what this new facility can offer the region.
APCC Executive Director Kay Hammond said this new facility has been a dream for them since they were open (15 years). The center’s former location was 193 Main Street, and it has now moved to 118 Loraine Street in Pikeville.
The center offers pregnancy testing, adoption education, baby and maternity resources, counseling sessions, parenting and life skills and nutrition classes, among other services. Hammond said the new location will allow the organization to expand its services to meet the needs of more families and women in their 18-county service region, which includes 14 counties in Kentucky, two counties of West Virginia and two counties of Virginia.
“It’s been a dream for 15 years,” she said. “We were looking for a new location, but we never imagined it would be something like this and it might be something we could afford. We just feel grateful and thankful.
Hammond said she is grateful to God and the community for making this new facility possible.
“I thought we could make it happen,” Hammond said. “I had big dreams for this, so I think through God’s intervention – and totally I give him all the glory – that it happened. We’re thrilled to be here, and I just want to thank our community for the way they have always reached out to us.
The opening of the new facility comes as the state General Assembly passed House Bill 3, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, tightens restrictions on abortions performed on minors and imposes more restrictions on the distribution and prescription of abortifacient drugs. Governor Andy Beshear vetoed the bill on April 8, and the Legislature overruled the veto enacting the bill.
On April 13, the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed two individual lawsuits challenging the new law, saying it would “create unnecessary abortion requirements while simultaneously making those requirements impossible to meet given the date effective immediately, requiring providers in the state to stop offering abortion services.
However, Hammond said she was happy to hear the bill had passed into law. She is on the Friends for Life Committee through the Southern Baptist Convention, and Kentucky Bill 3 is a bill they have been working hard on.
“This is a bill that we have worked extremely hard on,” she said. “We really did, and I was happy to see this bill coming.”
Hammond said she thinks many people are likely to need the center’s services, not just when it comes to deciding whether to have an abortion, but also because of the rising cost of inflation, with goods being harder to afford. Over the past 12 months, the annual inflation rate in the United States has increased by 8.5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I still think there will be a greater need for our services because not only do I think people will need our services when it comes to abortion decisions, but I think they also need material items from us and support, compassion and hope in time”. like this,” Hammond said. “I don’t anticipate that we will have fewer customers because of this new bill.”
The center’s hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays. The center is closed on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, visit www.appalachianpregnancycare.com.
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