Truth Serum: Maryland Bill Would Expose CPCs
by Doreen Filice, Ms. Magazine
May 23, 2008 - 7:00am (Print)
The Maryland state legislature is considering a bill to make crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) -- anti-choice organizations disguised as reproductive-health clinics -- more transparent. It would require them to state that they are not medical centers and are not providing factual medical information. At least two other states, Texas and West Virginia, are considering similar bills.
Just last year, the Maryland Catholic Conference was pushing the state's governor and legislature to introduce a bill providing almost $1 million in state and federal funding for CPCs. That prompted NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland to investigate 11 CPCs, finding that all used misinformation and emotional manipulation to prevent women from considering abortions. After the results were published, the Conference quietly stopped lobbying for the funding.
The
Maryland study squares with a 2006 investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman
(D-Calif.), in which he found that 87 percent of CPCs receiving federal
funding across the country gave false or misleading information about
abortion. Waxman documented that the U.S. government has provided $30
million to CPCs since 2001.
According to the Maryland data, 54 percent of the CPCs overstated the risks of abortion, linking it to breast cancer and "post-abortion stress syndrome" -- a conglomeration of depression and anxiety symptoms not recognized by the American Psychological Association. Pamphlets warning of those risks were found in 81 percent of the CPCs investigated. None of the centers provided referrals for birth control; one CPC volunteer said she couldn't give a referral because that would be "next to aborting your baby."
The Maryland study found that CPCs use various tactics to delay a woman's decision about abortion, from encouraging sonograms (but then postponing appointments for weeks until there's a fetal heartbeat) to suggesting that women wait and see if they miscarry naturally. Women were congratulated on positive pregnancy tests, but berated when they brought up abortion.
The bill would not, as opponents have argued, force the centers to shut down. "All we're asking is that they clarify that they're not medical centers," explains Ariana Kelly, executive director of the NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland Fund.
If the bill does reach the floor it has a good chance of passage, since Maryland has a mostly pro-choice legislature and a pro-choice governor. "Even if it doesn't pass, it has drawn attention to what crisis pregnancy centers are doing," says Kelly. "Women are being taken advantage of at a very vulnerable period in their lives."
This article was first published by Ms. Magazine.
Check Out Our Feature Series on Crisis Pregnancy Centers!
- Vicki Saporta, Targeting the Vulnerable: Crisis Pregnancy Centers Deceive
- Kierra Johnson, Crisis Pregnancy Centers: We Won't Be Fooled
- Allyson Kirk, Speaking Out: Manipulated by a CPC
This is simply a common sense bill and I'm hopeful that every state will follow Maryland's example as quickly as possible to prevent these non-medical clinics from causing further damage to these vulnerable and unsuspecting women. These CPC's are certainly welcome to continue pushing their anti-abortion agenda as long as they are upfront and honest about it with the women who call or stop by. A woman looking for accurate medical information and/or information regarding all of her options should be made aware of the fact that a CPC is not the place for her to go.
This is a very serious problem and begs the question- if these CPC's feel what they're doing is honorable, why do they hide behing lies and deceit? If they're not licensed and regulated as medical centers, how are they qualified to diagnose pregnancy, dispense medications and perform/ interpret sonograms?
At the very least, they must be made to disclose plainly that they are not medical providers and cease providing medical care, i.e. telling a pregnant woman who has bleeding that it is normal and will 'go away'- who finally went to emergency room and required transfusions due to hemorrhage. Until we have laws to prohibit this, women will continue to be victimized by these places that locate themselves and use names/ signs close to facilities that provide complete Ob-Gyn care, including abortion.
Can you believe federal monies have been going to these places? Thank god something's finally being done.
By the way, CPCs are going to have a hell of a party on June 7: it's nat'l protest the pill day. Crazy.
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This is excellent news--I only wish Virginia were next to pass such a law. As a clinic escort I've often wondered why we don't counterprotest these locations for putting out false information.
