When Nancy Lee Cochran saw headlines about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's pregnant teenage daughter -- and her decision to have the baby -- she felt excited.

"This will make [Ms. Palin] an even stronger advocate of right-to-life and programs to support single mothers," said the former moderator of the Pittsburgh Presbytery.

For her, there was no doubt or feelings of betrayal, responses that some commentators predicted would come from socially conservative Christians, who tend to embrace abstinence for the unmarried.

In fact, Ms. Cochran and other local voters who support the Palin-Sen. John McCain ticket are members of churches and faith-based organizations that traditionally provide support to unwed mothers.

There are more than 50 faith-based care centers in the region that offer services such as education, baby supplies, shelter and adoption information to women dealing with unplanned pregnancies. Some have been active for three decades or more.

"What most people believe about Republicans, conservatives and evangelicals is that they are rigid, self-righteous people," said Dick Hatch, of Oakdale, a general contractor and a former local, evangelical radio talk-show host.

"This is one of the clearest cases that I can remember in my life that proves that not to be true. As a Republican, conservative and evangelical, at this point I'm incredibly pleased with McCain's choice."

Conservative activists in Pittsburgh were among the first to respond to the political debate in the late 1960s over legalizing abortion. They lost the abortion fight when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that the practice was legal.

But instead of giving up, they decided to work to expand services to unmarried women who were willing to give birth.

"It's like, OK, now that there's a baby there, what can we do to help you?" said Helen Cindrich, executive director of People Concerned for the Unborn Child. "The condemnation is not there."

Without such services, abortion could too often seem like an easy solution to unplanned pregnancy, said Bruce Barron, a public policy expert from Castle Shannon.

"Abortion is a very quick and seemingly clean-the-slate solution," Mr. Barron said. "You have to offer a lot of practical assistance or else the easy way out still seems easier."

"I don't expect that you will find any evangelical leaders willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that [Bristol Palin] is also part of another phenomenon, the children of evangelical families who hear the importance of sexual abstinence until marriage and ignore the advice," Mr. Barron said. "They will embrace Sarah Palin as one who has taught the right thing."

For other religious leaders, Ms. Palin's announcement last weekend that her daughter was pregnant represented a chance to raise awareness about help available to unwed mothers.

Marie Bowen, executive director for Presbyterians Pro-Life, said teenage pregnancies are a disturbing reminder that "children are sexually active much too young." But she hopes the publicity around Bristol Palin will encourage other young women to carry out their pregnancies.

Presbyterians Pro-Life aims to connect churches with pregnancy care centers and encourages them to "wrap around women who are unmarried and pregnant and support them as a community," Ms. Bowen said. The group is a socially conservative network within the more liberal Presbyterian Church (USA), which has a history of supporting abortion rights.

"As always when I hear of a woman becoming pregnant who is not married, I had a sense of disappointment," Ms. Bowen said. "Then I thought, well, you know, here's an opportunity to make the whole issue of women having children in circumstances that aren't ideal a positive opportunity to talk about the choice of life."