In February 2013 the NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Foundation released the report of a year-long undercover investigation into crisis pregnancy centers in our state. What we found was a pattern of using medically inaccurate information and scare tactics. Women deserve accurate, comprehensive, and non-judgmental information and advice when making health care decisions. Read our report to find out what we found in these centers across the state.

More: 2013 Report: Ohio Crisis Pregnancy Centers Revealed :: NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio

From the Executive Summary:

Most CPCs seemed to have a general script that they followed with clients during the intake process. They most commonly asked about the client’s relationship with the client’s boyfriend (34%), closely followed by the relationship with parents (25%) and religious beliefs (22%). Unfortunately, CPCs rarely ask about sexual violence and relationship abuse (5% and 4% respectively). This is especially concerning since pregnancy is a particularly dangerous time for women.2,3,4 Less than half of the centers were upfront about who they were and what they stood for, with 42 % stating that they were pro-life, and 60% being unwilling to admit that they were not medical facilities.

Although CPCs advertise non-judgmental and comprehensive counseling about all of a woman’s options regarding unplanned pregnancies, this is not what our investigators found when they walked through the doors. In 34 of the visits the investigator felt that the counselor had a judgment about the decision she indicated, and in 53% of those, the investigator felt that the counselor had a negative reaction to her decision. The untruths counselors told our investigators to try to persuade them to not have the abortion were a host of anti-choice talking points, none of which are backed by scientific evidence, including the high health risks a woman faces when having an abortion, the connection between abortion and breast cancer and the connection between abortion and mental health problems.