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Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Using Religion to Manipulate Women

Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) – often called “fake clinics” by advocates of reproductive rights – are private, unlicensed and unregulated facilities established to counsel women against having an abortion. CPCs are typically run by Christian groups opposed to abortion, and many use the power and meaning of religion to pressure women who are worried or uncertain about an unplanned pregnancy into continuing the pregnancy. 

Most CPCs do not initially disclose that they oppose abortion and birth control. In some of their literature, CPCs quote biblical passages that they claim are against abortion. Typically they appeal to women by offering free pregnancy testing, sonograms and other services. A leading advocate of CPCs, the Family Research Council, described their method of persuasion as a combination of “the love of Christ and the power of ultrasound.” Merging religion with ultrasound is the purpose of The Psalm 139 Project, run by The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. The project raises money to provide ultrasound machines to “evangelistically oriented” CPCs.

CPCs have proliferated and become more entrenched in their communities because of federal funding, lack of regulation, and political and financial support from large conservative “family values” organizations such as the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family. While their deceptive and dangerous practices have gone on for decades, new legal developments could make them even more threatening to women’s health. At the same time, new legal action is emerging to regulate the abuses of these centers. Both are discussed in the section on “Legal Developments” below.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice opposes CPC practices that are deceptive and coercive. The coercion of women– by misinformation, emotional appeals, free services, prayer or any other means – is an offense against dignity and conscience and an abuse of trust. Our All Options Clergy Counseling program is a faith-informed service for women seeking counseling within their religious tradition or by a trained clergyperson. We prepare clergy of all faiths to provide all-options counseling, which assists women in exploring all options available – parenting, adoption, abortion – without judgment or bias.

CPCs’ Services
CPCs – also known as pregnancy resource centers by their supporters - provide peer counseling related to abortion, pregnancy and childbirth and may also provide free pregnancy tests (often those that are sold over-the-counter), sonograms, and other services. Many disseminate inaccurate information, usually about the supposed health risks of abortion. While CPCs often look like abortion clinics and are intentionally located near them, the overwhelming majority are not legally licensed as medical clinics and do not offer medical services.

CPCs may also provide screening for sexually transmitted diseases, adoption referrals, financial assistance, prenatal services, child-rearing resources and other services. While some centers refer clients for contraception, most do not and the service may be limited to married women. Others may offer Bible study sessions and peer counseling for women who have had abortions.

CPCs have been criticized for using heavy-handed methods such as graphic videos, religious proselytizing, inaccurate medical information about abortion and contraception, and misleading advertising. Some women describe being harassed and bullied. Though CPCs often say they offer “options” counseling, they do not provide counseling about a woman’s full range of options and generally will not refer for abortion care or birth control. Care Net, the largest network of CPCs in the United States, instructs its members not to give out information about birth control.

Religious Affiliations and Activities
An estimated 2,300 to 4,000 CPCs operate in the United States. At least 20 states provide funding for CPCs. A report prepared for U.S. Representative Henry Waxman found that from 2001 to 2005, 50 CPCs received $30 million in funding from the federal government. By 2006, CPCs had received more than $60 million dollars of federal funding, including some funding for abstinence-only programs.

Most CPCs are run by two chains that are explicitly evangelical--Care Net and Heartbeat International. Some CPCs are run by Catholic Charities, other Catholic social agencies, organizations and churches. Faithful for Life, a 1995 statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that provides criteria for CPCs, states that centers will “have policies and practices that do not advise, provide or refer for abortion, abortifacients, or artificial contraceptives.” A third major chain, Birthright International, has a stated philosophy of non-evangelism.

Care Net, which has more than 1,100 centers advising over 350,000 women annually, is explicitly evangelistic. It says that its "ultimate aim...is to share the love and truth of Jesus Christ in both word and deed" and that its "pregnancy centers are committed to sharing the love of Jesus Christ with every person who walks through their doors."

Heartbeat International is a U.S.-based group that is associated with over 1,100 affiliated pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption agencies in all 50 states and in 47 countries. It describes itself as a "Christian association of faith-based pregnancy resource centers" whose materials - manuals, model programs, and leadership training conferences - are "consistent with Biblical principles."

"In Shifra's Arms," a group claiming to be founded in Jewish principles, says on its website that it provides or refers women to a wide variety of services, including free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, rabbinic counseling, mentors and employment assistance. It does not provide an address for prospective clients but offers free, confidential phone counseling. There is significant support among North American Jewry for women’s reproductive rights and access to abortion, and this group is the only Jewish group known to be offering “crisis pregnancy” services.

Specific religious activity such as prayer and reading scripture can be part of a CPC client's experience. Care Net claims to have effected over 23,000 conversions or restatements of Christian faith. The National Institute for Family and Life Advocates, an organization that provides legal education, consultation and support training to CPCs, "strongly believes that sharing the Gospel is an essential part of counseling women in pregnancy help medical clinics." Some visitors to CPCs report that employees subjected them to unwanted evangelizing.

Many CPCs require their staff to be Christian. For example, as a condition of affiliation, Care Net requires each employee and volunteer of a prospective affiliate to comply with a statement of faith. Unaffiliated CPCs, or CPCs affiliated with other organizations, may provide a religious perspective in their counseling, but staff is not necessarily required to be Christian or comply with a statement of faith.

Legal Developments
Legal and legislative action in response to CPCs has typically focused on their advertising practices and has usually resulted in CPCs being obliged to make clear statements about the services they offer and do not offer. However, there is a movement towards obtaining medical clinic status (largely so that more CPCs can  offer sonograms) and CPCs are increasingly distancing themselves from deceptive advertising and other misleading practices. Many are buying ultrasound machines, employing staff with medical training, and otherwise moving toward a "medical model" of serving women.

A law passed in South Dakota during the 2011 legislation session requires a woman seeking an abortion to seek consultation at a CPC as a precondition to obtaining an abortion. This law may increase the influence of CPCs, if it is copied by other states and not struck down in a court of law before taking effect in July 2011. The law also establishes a 3-day waiting period, the longest in the country.

However, New York City, Montgomery County, Maryland, and Austin, Texas, have enacted laws to regulate CPCs by requiring that they post signs about the nature of the services they offer. A law requiring Baltimore, Maryland, CPCs to display signs stating that they did not offer or refer clients for abortion was declared unconstitutional on free speech grounds after a lawsuit by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a Maryland CPC. The City of Baltimore is appealing the ruling.

June 23, 2011

 

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