SANDPOINT, IDAHO — 7B Care Clinic in Sandpoint, Idaho, announced plans to expand its building and partner with a hospital about 30 miles away in Washington state to bring an OB-GYN to the community once a week for prenatal care. The expansion aims to bring obstetric care back to Sandpoint, a city of more than 10,000 residents.

The clinic, which has operated in Sandpoint since 2001, was previously called Life Choices Pregnancy Center and Sandpoint Crisis Pregnancy Center. It is an affiliate of Care Net, a nationwide network of Christian evangelical centers with roughly 1,200 affiliated pregnancy centers.

7B Care Clinic offers pregnancy tests, limited ultrasounds, parenting and life skills classes, community support groups, and free resources such as children's clothing. The clinic is not medically licensed and is not required to meet regulatory standards for medical facilities. It plans to add to its current building once the building is paid off.

Three years ago, the local hospital shuttered its labor and delivery unit, and its OB-GYNs moved out of state, leaving a gap in reproductive health services in Sandpoint and surrounding rural areas. Traffic at 7B Care Clinic has increased since the closure. By December 2024, Idaho had lost a third of its OB-GYNs.

Executive Director Janine Shepard said donations from individuals, businesses, and more than 40 churches keep operations running, and she invites people to tour the clinic to learn about its services. "Our staff talk to pregnant women about abortion, adoption, and parenting as options and hope they feel supported enough to make a 'life-affirming' decision," Shepard said.

Lori Sabin, a licensed midwife, described the clinic's referral practices. "The nicest thing about 7B is all their services are free. They tell them where the midwives are; they tell them where the OBs are," Sabin said.

More than 2,600 crisis pregnancy centers operated in the United States as of 2024, more than three times the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics. Andrea Swartzendruber, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Georgia College of Public Health, addressed the broader category of centers. "Crisis pregnancy centers have, for years and years, capitalized on gaps in access to healthcare. In no way, shape, or form do crisis pregnancy centers have the infrastructure or ability or training to bridge those gaps," she said.