BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A number of women in North Carolina's rural counties seek abortions, and one pregnancy center clinic helps them by supplying tests and ultrasounds. 

What You Need To Know

  • Changes are coming July 1 to state laws surrounding abortion

  • Some worry this will make people panic

  • A pregnancy care center in Burke County is offering free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. It has opened a mobile unit this year to get care to those who do not have vehicles

"So often we have people coming in thinking that we are an abortion clinic and so they come in. That's their first question right? I need an abortion. We let them know that though we don't provide or perform abortions here or refer for them, what we do offer is a free pregnancy test and an ultrasound," Miranda Boughman, a doula at the Burke County Pregnancy Center, said. 

Boughman says recently the center has seen an uptick in patients. 

"It is completely different than a OBGYN office. We do offer, you know, those early limited prenatal services, but we do so much more," Boughman said. 

They offer a place where you can get items for babies for free like diapers and clothes.  

"We don't want you to be in trouble. However, we also see that these laws putting a time limit on it can cause panic," Boughman said.

That is where the clinic and the mobile unit step in. They bring the mobile unit to different areas of the county to ensure that people who do not have transportation have access to prenatal care. They are able to give patients a free pregnancy test and an ultrasound on board.

"No matter what your views on abortion are. I think that our hearts should first be for the mom, for the woman experiencing pregnancy. As much as I may vehemently want to save a baby, that can't be my goal," Boughman said. 

The center is currently moving to a building in Morganton. The growing pains only took two decades before a new home was needed. 

"Our old center was quickly shrinking around us," Boughman said.