RH Reality Check blogs that Crisis Pregnancy Centers are No April Fools.

There are few things that make me madder than thinking about my tax dollars funding so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs). CPCs, also known as pregnancy resource centers, are non-profit organizations established by pro-life supporters that work to persuade pregnant women to give birth rather than have an abortion (citation). They are frequently located right next to actual clinics and have misleading business names.

While a real clinic provides comprehensive medical services, and information on *all* of the various options available to pregnant women, CPCs do not provide information on abortion and often engage in deceptive practices. Vicki Saporta says in her post Targeting the Vulnerable:

Crisis Pregnancy Centers Deceive:

Many CPCs use deceptive advertising practices to fool women into thinking that they are legitimate medical clinics that provide a variety of reproductive health care services, including family planning and abortion care. In reality, most CPCs do not provide full options counseling and generally will not refer for abortion care or birth control.

These fake clinics use deceptive advertising practices such as intentionally placing advertisements under the "abortion services" heading of phone and Internet directories and choosing names that are similar to abortion clinics to confuse women about what types of services they provide. Many CPCs are connected with religious organizations, but few disclose that fact in their advertising. Additionally, CPCs often locate themselves in close proximity to legitimate reproductive health care facilities. We have heard from many patients who mistakenly visited a CPC because it was on the same street-or even next door-to the actual abortion provider where they had an appointment.

Vicki's post is part of a series of posts that appeared on RH Reality Check yesterday for April Fool's Day: Don't Be Fooled: Spreading the Truth about CPCs. All of the posts are must-reads (and there's a podcast from Amanda Marcotte), but my two favorite posts have to do with the personal experiences of college women:

Speaking Out: Manipulated By a CPC by Allyson Kirk

Georgetown's Guerilla Bathroom Campaign by Sam Demetriou

Of course, what really gets me angry is that these centers - these religion-based centers - often receive government funding in the United States. How this happens in America - a country founded on the separation of church and state - I have no comprehension. It is truly shameful and infuriating to this American.

Further, the newest trend is for these CPCs to offer ultrasound services to increase the perception, no matter how tenuous, that the CPC is a clinic, as opposed to a propaganda-pushing counseling center. I'll pull from Allyson Kirk's post linked above to give you a taste of what makes me so angry:

When I walked in the front door of the clinic, an older man sitting behind the counter welcomed me. I quickly gave my name and said that I had a two o'clock appointment. He acted like they were expecting me and asked me to have a seat in the empty waiting room while they prepared for my appointment...

She brought me into a different room and gave me a form to fill out. The form asked for basic contact information, but also asked for the personal information of my partner or spouse. The form asked about my medical history, including how many times I had been pregnant, obtained an abortion, and if I had children. As I was filling out the form, the woman began asking me questions, too. She asked why I was seeking an abortion, if I was sure that I was pregnant, and how many weeks I was into the pregnancy. She then began asking questions about my partner, such as did he know I was pregnant, did he want me to terminate the pregnancy, and why he wasn't there with me. I answered her questions, but began to feel guarded.

...I decided that this was not the kind of place I felt comfortable seeking medical care so I asked her to complete the free pregnancy test and then I would be on my way. I gave her a urine sample and she agreed to run the test, but only if I watched an educational video while the results were processing.

She goes on to describe the video.

Allyson thought she was in a medical facility, which by its nature provides protections in regards to the personal information you give. A CPC is not a medical facility and is not staffed by medical professionals, therefore, your information is not protected - and you're sitting there giving your name, address, medical information! Horrible.

And legal???

And government funded???

Thankfully, as Ms. Magazine reports:

Senator Robert Menendez introduced a bill in the Senate yesterday that would regulate the misleading advertising practices of Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs). Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act would require the Federal Trade Commission to create and enforce rules to prohibit CPCs' deceptive advertising practices, such as advertising under the term "abortion services." The act expressly defines abortion services to mean "providing surgical and non-surgical procedures to terminate a pregnancy, or providing referrals for such procedures."

House Representative Carolyn Maloney introduced the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act in the House last summer.

There is a link to a PDF of the Act in that article.

Want to get involved? Choice USA blog post Don't Be Fooled: Action Against CPC's outlines how to contact your senator.

Today there are as many as 4,000 CPCs in the United States, compared to the less than 2,000 facilities that actually provide abortion care for women (citation). The people at those CPCs have the right their religion. They have the right to believe whatever they choose to about abortion. But they should not have the right to engage in unethical, immoral, deceptive practices.

I also don't think they should receive a dime of government money for what they do; but here's hoping that we can at least stop the lying and the deception.

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Additional Resources:

The Truth About Crisis Pregnancy Centers - PDF from NARAL

Crisis Pregnancy Centers: An Affront to Choice - PDF from the National Abortion Federation

Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics - from FeministCampus.org

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Contributing editor Liz Rizzo also blogs at Everyday Goddess.