‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’ Tells Woman Her IUD Was a Baby
And even women who aren’t necessarily interested in having an abortion may receive inaccurate information at CPCs from employees who aren’t actually trained in reproductive health. Cristina asked for an ultrasound at several centers; at two of them, the staff incorrectly identified her IUD as her “baby.” NARAL has also documented repeated instances of CPC employees misleading women about their risk of miscarriage, telling them they don’t need to make a decision about their pregnancy right away because they have up to a 50 percent chance of miscarrying — even though medical professionals put that risk closer to 15 percent.
“I have heard anecdotally from public health officials about problems with women who thought they were getting prenatal care, but then were dropped by CPCs once it was too late for them to have an abortion,” Griffin said. “We do feel like it’s a real public health issue here, where women aren’t getting the good prenatal care they need and don’t necessarily know otherwise until they’re far into their pregnancies.”
Despite the well-documented issues at crisis pregnancy centers, many of them are actually the recipients of state funding. Some states designate direct funding for CPCs in their budgets, while others indirectly support them with the proceeds from “Choose Life” license plates. This week, NPR reported that some states are funneling money to CPCs even as they cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Texas, for instance, continues to defund family planning services at the national women’s health organization, yet appropriated more than $5 million over two fiscal years for CPCs.
More: ‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’ Tells Woman Her IUD Was a Baby
Scenarios like this play out every day in anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers all over California. In an in-depth undercover investigation of 43 such centers in 19 counties - available at www.cpclies.com - National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Pro-Choice California’s investigators encountered all of this false and manipulative rhetoric and much more. Our research reveals that by throwing up roadblocks to legitimate medical care, these centers pose a threat to public health in California.
UnMasking Fake Clinics -Full Report
More than 67% of the locations intentionally referred to the fetus
as “baby” and told our investigator she was already a mother
because she was already pregnant. During a majority of visits,
CPC workers used gruesome and graphic words to describe an
abortion in the hopes of frightening and humiliating women. One
CPC told our investigator that if an abortion is not done correctly
chances are “they might puncture your uterus and vacuum your
fallopian tubes shut.” This psychological warfare has no place in a
real counseling session.When an investigator told a CPC worker that her goal of going to
college - the first in her family - she was told to put school aside
and re-locate near her mother so she could help out. The idea
that school was unimportant and could wait was shared in every
single center.