Crisis Pregnancy Centers, bad for women everywhere.
It’s nothing short of fraud the way these places trick people into walking through their doors.
From 2001-2006, CPC’s received over $60 million from the US federal government. Even now, under the Obama administration, they receive federal funding which allows them to mislead people into believing they perform abortions, then lie to, manipulate, and terrorize them until they comply with their anti-choice agenda.
If HB 350 becomes law, women seeking safe abortion care will receive a list of sites where they can obtain free ultrasounds, all of which are crisis pregnancy centers that do not provide the forced ultrasounds required by the state, but do intend to talk women out of their decisions. Women would also receive information on a state website of resources allegedly available for a woman who continues her pregnancy to term. She would also have to be provided with the business card of the physician who will be doing the abortion, and printed materials telling her abortion increases her risk of breast cancer (it does not), and that “Abortion terminates the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.”
Whoa.
Appalling. I can’t believe state legislators have nothing better to do with their time than finding new ways to screw over their constituents.
(Source: rhrealitycheck.org)
I have a HUGE favor to ask of you! Here in Vegas we have the Women’s Resource Medical Centers of Southern Nevada. They provide help for those who are seeking help in unfavorable circumstances due to unplanned pregnancy. However, they provide an alternative to Planned Parenthood- they help people choose Life. Now as any organization needs money in order to help, so does WRMCSN. Because of that, they are holding a Race For Life, a walk/run to help fundraise money to support struggling women in Las Vegas. My college youth group, Redemption, has formed a team, and we would greatly appreciate it if you could help us raise at least $500 for the Center. We already had one person donate $100 last night, which is such a praise report! Of course, you don’t have to donate that much. Merely a dollar brings us that much closer to our goal!
Here’s the link: https://sna.etapestry.com/fundraiser/WomensResourceCentersofSou/RaceforLife2012/donate.do?sponsor=1931.0.679836718
And of course, if you have any questions about the Center:
If you donate, please put “Tumblr” and a random number in your donation message, i.e. Tumblr 5923, then message me via Tumblr with that same message, and I’ll flood your inbox with love and silly questions.
DO NOT GO TO OR SUPPORT THIS LOCATION. DO NOT CONTACT THEM. DO NOT SEEK THEIR HELP. THEY DO NOT WANT TO HELP YOU. THEY WANT TO FORCE YOU INTO PREGNANCY. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, YOUR LIFE, YOUR OPTIONS, YOUR HEALTH, OR YOUR FUTURE. ONCE AGAIN, DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION.
PLEASE, PEOPLE, REBLOG THIS POST WITH MY MESSAGE. LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT THIS IS A CPC AND NOT A REAL MEDICAL FACILITY.
For fuck’s sake, it’s completely misleading to call yourself a medical center if the only medical services you offer are store-bought pregnancy tests and “limited” ultrasounds. It’s obvious that by calling themselves a medical center, they’re hoping to trick people into thinking they provide abortion services.
The Crisis Project recently investigated the Pregnancy Resource Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Immediately upon her arrival, “counselors” began to desperately persuade the investigator not to have an abortion using manipulative language, medical misinformation, lies, and tears.
Pregnancy resource centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers, are infamous for these tactics. If you are pregnant and unsure of your options, DO NOT GO TO THESE CENTERS. Often, they will set up shop near an abortion provider in an attempt to trick patients into coming to them. If you’re not sure if you’re in the right place, ask explicitly if they perform abortions. Any answer other than a clear “yes” will tell you all you need to know.
norarr submitted:
“Planned Parenthood: The only organization that claims to help and support women, but doesn’t provide them with diapers, formula, maternity clothing, rent money, groceries, transportation. oh-snap-pro-lifers:
This!!!
But they WILL convince and help her kill her unborn child! :D “
Oh, Snap Pro-Lifers lol.
How about researching what Planned Parenthood does for people?
Probably because they use all their funding providing general and reproductive health care using licensed physicians and medical equipment (which tends to be a wee bit more expensive than diapers and formula), unlike some organizations I know…
(Source: stfuprolifers)
advocateforlife-deactivated2012 asked: Saw your post about getting pregnant women the help they need in order to parent their child instead of feeling like they have to have an abortion - I found the best source of resources are pregnancy resource centers. Sadly, many who are pro-choice loathe such places and would rather see them shut down. Yes, they're faith based, but all faiths are welcomed. And yes, they're against abortion, but if the woman has decided to keep here baby, well, that shouldn't even be a problem.
I know there are many pregnancy centers out there that do a lot of good, but I don’t know how to tell from their websites which ones don’t practice the things CPCs are infamous for (including coercive adoption, which is a problem for people who’ve decided to give birth). I’m not willing to recommend undecided people visit places that will, intentionally or not, make them feel they must carry out a pregnancy. It’s perfectly fine if centers don’t refer to abortion services, but again, there’s no way to tell simply by looking at their websites how they deal with the topic. The pro-choice community would like to see the lies, manipulation, blackmail, and harassment stop - not to see pregnant people go without help.
As an aside, I’ve seen a number of CPCs and Christian shelters that require clients attend Bible study, which doesn’t seem welcoming of all faiths.
If only I had all the resources in the world to send people to check them all out! If I’m going to list any, it’ll be with a personal reference from a reliable source who hasn’t had any of the above listed issues with a center.
It seems to be incredibly easy to find CPCs as well, so I’m more interested in either finding centers that are decidedly pro-choice, or programs that just deal with parenting/soon-to-be parents, not pregnancy options. There will be an option of pregnancy resource centers mentioned in the post, but it will come with a warning.
This December, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will again hold a hearing concerning Baltimore’s truth-in-advertising ordinance, which would require CPCs to post signs stating that they do not provide or make referrals to abortion and contraceptive services.
CPCs infamously post misleading or false advertising to trick pregnant people into thinking they are legitimate medical organizations, when in fact many do not provide any medical care beyond pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. In addition, many CPCs will manipulate, blackmail, harass, and lie to their clients in order to frighten them into carrying out an unwanted pregnancy. Some even use their clients to provide babies for Christian couples to adopt, and pressure people to stay with their abusive spouses in the name of “family values.” You can read more about CPCs here, or by reading through the #cpc and #crisis pregnancy center tags on this blog.
The lawsuit against the ordinance was filed in 2010 by the Archbishop of Baltimore, a local parish, and the Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns. That’s right, Catholic leaders and CPCs are fighting for their “right” to lie to pregnant people. Here’s the kicker: These organizations received over $30 million in taxpayer money during the Bush administration, and are still funded by federal money today.
I applaud Baltimore for this ordinance, and hope to see more cities pass similar ones. After all, if crisis pregnancy centers are as valuable as their employees claim, they shouldn’t need to lie about their services, should they?
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are privately-run facilities that masquerade as places where you can get support for pregnancy, adoption, and abortions. In reality, they’re evil, evil places where the staff scares young women* into believing that abortions will kill them and that they’ll commit suicide if they abort and they should really hand their baby over to a nice, Christian family. A Congressional investigation found that an overwhelming majority of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, or CPCs, intentionally misled and misinformed their clients. (In one charming story, they told a Jewish woman that she had to convert to Christianity or she would go to hell. Just what a frightened pregnant woman wants to hear!)
Many CPCs have signs outside that say “Free Family Planning” or “Free Pregnancy Tests” to lure young pregnant women in. Their materials say they offer abortions and contraceptives, when in reality, they are Christian adoption mills. And the best part? Under George W. Bush, they received more than $30 million taxpayer dollars in federal funding.
Baltimore passed a law in 2009 that would force CPCs to post public disclosures of their position on abortion and contraception. This past week, the court of appeals ruled that it violated their Freedom of Speech. Yes, that’s right: they are legally allowed to lie to you.
Fuck this.
CPCs are bad for anyone who can get pregnant.
(Source: stfuconservatives)
This was in my inbox this morning. The reader asked to remain anonymous.
I saw your post ago saying you’d received what you needed for the abortion and would be donating any extra and I’d like to throw in my two cents— donate it to the Fund Abortion Now Network. It’s such an amazing program. It literally saved me and I donate to it every opportunity I have now!
I got pregnant at 18 and put off getting a test for a couple weeks after I thought so because I was young and dumb. I went to a health care clinic for a pregnancy test. They told me I was five/six weeks along. My boyfriend and I talked about it and we knew an abortion was the only answer because neither of us had money saved up, worked much and still lived with our families.
The next day, we went to our bosses and begged for more hours as we were only working around 10 hours a week at minimum wage (slightly over $7). Due to overstaffing and both of us being new to our jobs, we were lucky to get 15 hours. We saved every penny we could (we both have to pay our own insurance and help with groceries), and it took a month and a half to get what we were told we’d need ($900) for the procedure.
I went back to that clinic and the people were extremely rude to me this time. They kept going on and on about how abortions are cruel and awful and I was a bad person for wanting to do that to my “child.” They tried to show me pictures of what an abortion would look like. I realize that was not a good place and got out of there quickly.
I found another clinic in my city that offered abortions and visited them. At this point, I was 12 to 14 weeks and I was very, very sick all the time. I was told it would cost $1,000 for my procedure here. My boyfriend and I asked around and found a friend who loaned us that extra $100. Then I went in for my ultrasound and was told the most devastating news— I was not 12 or 14 weeks along, I was 20. That’s the cut off point where I was living and I was told I would need the procedure within the next 2 or 3 days, but it was going to cost $2,000. That first clinic, which I later found out was a crisis pregnancy center, had lied to me.
I was convinced my life was over and I was going to have to tell my very conservative family about what happened and either face them ridiculing me for the rest of my life for having a child as a teen but giving it up for adoption or them completely abandoning me after loaning me the money for the procedure.
But the sweet lady at the front desk took my hand, led me to a tiny room in the back with a chair, told me to sit down and handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it. She said to call that number as many times as it took to reach somebody. 15 minutes and 36 calls later, I finally heard a woman’s voice on the phone. She asked basic information about me and then asked what clinic I was in, how far along I was and how much I needed. She put me on hold to do her work.
After a couple minutes, she was back and I heard the most amazing thing I’ve ever been told in my life, “We can help you.” They were able to transfer $990 to the clinic for me. That put me at $1990. I dug through my bag to find my tissues and what did I happen to find that I didn’t know I had? A $10 bill.
If it wasn’t for that amazing program, my life would be in shambles. I don’t know if I’d have a family, I don’t know if I’d still have my amazing boyfriend, I don’t know if I’d still have my job (which I’m now a manager at), I don’t know if I’d be in college (working towards a degree somewhere in the field of English) and I honestly don’t know if I’d even be alive. That was the most difficult point in my life and now I’m trying to give back to the organization that helped save my life so that they can continue saving others as well.
Thank you for letting me share my tale.
I bolded the parts where the Crisis Pregnancy Center manipulated and lied to somebody, because those places are just the worst. A study found that 20 out of the 23 CPCs they visited intentionally misinformed patients. And the best part? They received more than $30 million in taxpayer dollars under President George W. Bush.
But yeah. The FAN is amazing and I hope I can donate more to them in the future.
(Source: stfuconservatives)
View high resolution
Total anti-choice measures enacted in 2011:
- 26 states enacted 69 anti-choice measures in 2011.
- Arizona, Florida, and Kansas enacted the most antichoice legislation in 2011, with five measures each.
- Since 1995, states have enacted 713 anti-choice measures.
Anti-choice measures enacted in 2011 included:
- Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma enacted pre-viability bans on abortion care after 20 weeks. None of these laws includes an adequate exception to protect women’s health or for cases in which the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. These laws are clearly designed as a challenge to Roe v. Wade.
- Eight states - Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia - passed abortion-coverage bans. Some of these measures ban coverage of abortion in the state’s health-insurance exchange; others prohibit abortion coverage in the state’s entire private insurance market.
- Seven states enacted laws restricting state funds from going to Planned Parenthood or to any health center that provides abortion care: Indiana, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. These attacks took several forms, ranging from a New Hampshire executive-council decision to refuse to honor an existing contract with Planned Parenthood to budget bills that barred Planned Parenthood from receiving any state funds.
- Kansas and Virginia imposed onerous regulations on abortion providers that are intended to shut down all clinics that offer abortion care. In Kansas, providers were given only two weeks to comply with numerous new construction and facilities requirements that are wholly unrelated to patient safety. In Virginia, the state now will regulate first-trimester abortion clinics as a type of hospital. This regulatory scheme includes extensive requirements that are impossible to meet without extensive renovations or new construction.
- Arizona passed a law that removes the charitable tax status of any organization that provides, refers for, or provides coverage of abortion. The measure is so broad that it could sweep in any hospital or non-profit health center that refers for abortion as a standard of care or a non-profit organization that provides its employees with a comprehensive health plan that includes abortion coverage.
- Arizona became the first state in the nation to enact a measure that imposes criminal penalties on doctors who provide abortion care with the knowledge that race or sex is a factor in the woman’s decision.
- South Dakota passed a first-of-its-kind biased-counseling mandate. Of the law’s many onerous provisions, it requires a woman seeking abortion care to submit to an in-person lecture at a so-called crisis pregnancy center, many of which are biased, anti-choice, anticontraception facilities. The law also includes a precedent-setting 72-hour mandatory delay before care. This law has been temporarily enjoined pending the conclusion of ongoing litigation.
Source: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/government-and-you/state-governments/key-findings-threats-to-choice.html
These new laws restrict the rights of all people who can get pregnant, not just cis women.
While waiting to give birth, Jordan was taken into the home of a “shepherding family” the agency hooked her up with, where — despite the fact she hadn’t yet decided on adoption — she was referred to exclusively as a “birth mother.” Says Jordan, “I felt like a walking uterus for the agency.” After she settled on an adoptive couple and gave birth,
Jordan cried all day and didn’t think she could relinquish the baby. She called her shepherding parents and asked if she could bring the baby home. They refused, chastising Jordan sharply. The counselor told the couple Jordan was having second thoughts and brought them, sobbing, into her recovery room. The counselor warned Jordan that if she persisted, she’d end up homeless and lose the baby anyway.
Jordan signed the adoption papers and went back to live with the shepherding family, who were “celebrating and asked why Jordan wouldn’t stop crying.” 5 days later she left, and when she later called the agency looking for the counseling they promised, her shepherding mother told her “You’re the one who spread your legs and got pregnant out of wedlock. You have no right to grieve for this baby.”
Many other women, says Joyce, have had similar experiences. Lured in with promises of support, counseling, a home, money, and an open adoption that will allow them to keep in touch with their children, they later realize that all the CPC folks ever wanted them to do was have the baby and get lost.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are so damn infuriating.
—Maria
These are the institutions that need to be shut down, not Planned Parenthood.
They’re basically the maternity homes of the era before Roe v. Wade. Young girls were coerced into giving away their babies to more “suitable” parents. This shit would increase exponentially with the outlawing of abortion, if the Christian right gets their way.
(via lilithlaquim)
Described incidence of one woman’s visit to a Crisis Pregnancy Center (via crisispregnancycenter)
Fuck CPC’s.
(via prochoicegeneration)
Being pregnant makes it more difficult to leave an abusive relationship, especially if the victim is financially (and emotionally and physically) dependent on their abuser, as is common. Pregnancy in an abusive relationship often escalates the danger to the victim, and increases their risk of being murdered. A person who abuses their partner is likely to abuse their child, too.
So, yeah, fuck crisis pregnancy centers.
(Source: , via prochoicegeneration)
![prolongedeyecontact:
eternalhomeinheaven:
Abolitionist Society of Oklahoma: Abolitionist Posters on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/24165071
All I’m seeing are lies, libel, and false martyrdom. Add in some co-opting of slavery abolition and some cissexism and I know I’m looking at an AHA poster.
Planned Parenthood is staffed by actual doctors, with actual medical training, and they provide actual medical services:
Women’s Health [people other than “women” can and do utilize these services]
Includes:
birth control
emergency contraception
checkups for reproductive and sexual health problems
gynecological exams
pregnancy tests and pre-natal care
routine physical exams
Men’s Health [people other than “men” can and do utilize these services]
Includes:
checkups for reproductive or sexual health problems
colon cancer screening
erectile dysfunction services, including education, exams, treatment, and referral
jock itch exam and treatment
male infertility screening and referral
premature ejaculation services, including education, exams, treatment, and referral
routine physical exams
testicular cancer screenings
prostate cancer screenings
urinary tract infections testing and treatment
vasectomy
General Health Care
Includes:
anemia testing
cholesterol screening
diabetes screening
physical exams, including for employment and sports
flu vaccines
help with quitting smoking
high blood pressure screening
tetanus vaccines
thyroid screening
STD testing, treatment, and vaccines
In addition:
Planned Parenthood health centers focus on prevention: 76 percent of our clients receive services to prevent unintended pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood services help prevent more than 584,000 unintended pregnancies each year.
Planned Parenthood provides nearly 770,000 Pap tests and nearly750,000 breast exams each year, critical services in detecting cancer.
Planned Parenthood provides more than four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
Three percent of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services.
Planned Parenthood affiliates provide educational programs to more than1.1 million young people and adults each year.
Also see this pdf.
CPCs, on the other hand, are verifiably deceptive, manipulative, and downright despicable. And they’re using our tax dollars to spread their lies.
NARAL report on CPCs in MA
Undercover investigation in NC
“False and Misleading Health Information Provided by Federally Funded
Pregnancy Resource Centers” (Waxman Report).
NARAL: The Truth About Crisis Pregnancy Centers
NARAL: Unmasking Fake Clinics
Exposing Anti_Choice Abortion Clinics (Alternet)
CPCs Sue For Right To Mislead
NARAL Maryland CPC Investigation
CPC Watch
NAF Crisis Pregnancy Center Info
History of CPCs
“AIDS goes through a condom like rice through a tennis racket.” : Stop CPC Lies
Christian Crisis Pregnancy Clinics Exposed
Deception used in counseling women against abortion
The Truth is Better Advice
What happens when CPCs are unregulated in the city?
Shotgun Adoption
What Every Woman Should Know
Then, of course, there is this priceless video:
Please visit http://www.naralva.org/assets/files/cpcfactsheet.pdf to read more about this video.
Here’s some more links provided from a post by Bebinn:
Crisis pregnancy centers intentionally advertise themselves to confuse people looking for answers and clinics. They lie about fetal development, about abortion procedures, about the risks of abortion (more here), about where to get an abortion, and about the services they provide. They harass, stalk, and expose their victims, try to convert them, try to convince them to stay with their abusive husbands, and practice coercive adoption.
George W. Bush and allies funneled millions to dollars in grants to these centers - over $30 million, in fact (PDF).
Then there was the fun time they put out an APB on a pregnant woman attempting to go to Planned Parenthood.
___________________________________________
So forgive me if I hope Planned Parenthood never attempts to embody the “virtues” or “services” of CPCs. That’s not the kind of “help” anyone wants, needs, or deserves.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0a8ht4YyV1r7lmn5o1_500.jpg)
Abolitionist Society of Oklahoma: Abolitionist Posters on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/24165071
All I’m seeing are lies, libel, and false martyrdom. Add in some co-opting of slavery abolition and some cissexism and I know I’m looking at an AHA poster.
Planned Parenthood is staffed by actual doctors, with actual medical training, and they provide actual medical services:
Women’s Health [people other than “women” can and do utilize these services]
Includes:
- birth control
- emergency contraception
- checkups for reproductive and sexual health problems
- gynecological exams
- pregnancy tests and pre-natal care
- routine physical exams
Men’s Health [people other than “men” can and do utilize these services]
Includes:
- checkups for reproductive or sexual health problems
- colon cancer screening
- erectile dysfunction services, including education, exams, treatment, and referral
- jock itch exam and treatment
- male infertility screening and referral
- premature ejaculation services, including education, exams, treatment, and referral
- routine physical exams
- testicular cancer screenings
- prostate cancer screenings
- urinary tract infections testing and treatment
- vasectomy
General Health Care
Includes:
- anemia testing
- cholesterol screening
- diabetes screening
- physical exams, including for employment and sports
- flu vaccines
- help with quitting smoking
- high blood pressure screening
- tetanus vaccines
- thyroid screening
- STD testing, treatment, and vaccines
- Planned Parenthood health centers focus on prevention: 76 percent of our clients receive services to prevent unintended pregnancy.
- Planned Parenthood services help prevent more than 584,000 unintended pregnancies each year.
- Planned Parenthood provides nearly 770,000 Pap tests and nearly750,000 breast exams each year, critical services in detecting cancer.
- Planned Parenthood provides more than four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
- Three percent of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services.
- Planned Parenthood affiliates provide educational programs to more than1.1 million young people and adults each year.
CPCs, on the other hand, are verifiably deceptive, manipulative, and downright despicable. And they’re using our tax dollars to spread their lies.
- NARAL report on CPCs in MA
- Undercover investigation in NC
- “False and Misleading Health Information Provided by Federally Funded
- Pregnancy Resource Centers” (Waxman Report).
- NARAL: The Truth About Crisis Pregnancy Centers
- NARAL: Unmasking Fake Clinics
- Exposing Anti_Choice Abortion Clinics (Alternet)
- CPCs Sue For Right To Mislead
- NARAL Maryland CPC Investigation
- CPC Watch
- NAF Crisis Pregnancy Center Info
- History of CPCs
- “AIDS goes through a condom like rice through a tennis racket.” : Stop CPC Lies
- Christian Crisis Pregnancy Clinics Exposed
- Deception used in counseling women against abortion
- The Truth is Better Advice
- What happens when CPCs are unregulated in the city?
- Shotgun Adoption
- What Every Woman Should Know
Then, of course, there is this priceless video:
Please visit http://www.naralva.org/assets/files/cpcfactsheet.pdf to read more about this video.
Here’s some more links provided from a post by Bebinn:
Crisis pregnancy centers intentionally advertise themselves to confuse people looking for answers and clinics. They lie about fetal development, about abortion procedures, about the risks of abortion (more here), about where to get an abortion, and about the services they provide. They harass, stalk, and expose their victims, try to convert them, try to convince them to stay with their abusive husbands, and practice coercive adoption.
George W. Bush and allies funneled millions to dollars in grants to these centers - over $30 million, in fact (PDF).
Then there was the fun time they put out an APB on a pregnant woman attempting to go to Planned Parenthood.
___________________________________________
So forgive me if I hope Planned Parenthood never attempts to embody the “virtues” or “services” of CPCs. That’s not the kind of “help” anyone wants, needs, or deserves.
Slightly old, but still always relevant.
Fun fact: “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) collected over $30 million in taxpayer dollars between 2001 and 2005. A random investigation of 23 CPCs found that 20 of them were intentionally misinforming patients. Your tax dollars at work!
-Jess
But taxpayer dollars funding actual and potentially life-saving health services and unbiased information via Planned Parenthood? The horror!
(Source: stephherold)
