Crisis Pregnancy Centers

In the midst of an economic crisis, both candidates for President still acknowledge that lack of health care coverage is a major concern for all Americans. Unforeseen catastrophic medical costs are the single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. today. Yet in the midst of this pressing need, millions of dollars in federal funds are spent to support thousands of Crisis Pregnancy Centers or Pregnancy Resource Centers, places where women are referred for pregnancy counseling.

What is a Crisis Pregnancy Center?

In the U.S., there are an estimated 4,000 Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs), nearly double the number of abortion providers. CPCs masquerade as health clinics but are in fact typically run by unlicensed anti-choice volunteers and do not provide comprehensive health services to women. Dangerous Masquerade, an article in the latest issue of Ms. Magazine, exposes the deceptive nature of these centers and the danger they pose to students� health.

CPCs typically advertise under "abortion services" in the yellow pages but do not provide those services and do not provide accurate information about abortion as an option. Crisis pregnancy centers target college students by advertising in student newspapers and billboards on or near campuses.

The Ms. Magazine article reports on the results of a recent study by the Feminist Majority Foundation that has revealed the disturbing data that of 398 health centers on 4-year college campuses, 48% routinely refer women who might be pregnant to so-called crisis pregnancy centers. The ramifications for women�s health and reproductive rights are serious, say health and public policy advocates. Women being delayed care and scared into keeping an unwanted pregnancy are put at a much higher health risk.

In addition to using deceptive advertising tactics, CPCs are also using manipulation and erroneous medical claims to dissuade or delay women from obtaining an abortion or birth control. Congressman Henry Waxman investigated deceptive tactics used by federally funded crisis pregnancy centers, finding that twenty out of twenty-three centers investigated (87%) provided false or misleading information about the health effects of abortion, claiming there is a link between abortion and breast cancer, among other misleading statements.

Disturbingly, federal and state funds are going to support crisis pregnancy centers. Federal funding for CPCs comes through several sources of abstinence-only and marriage promoting funds administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Under the Bush Administration, abstinence-only funding has grown from $97.5 million in 2000 to $214 million in 2008. Additionally, if a proposed rule pending with HHS is enacted, millions in Title X funding  the bread and butter for thousands of comprehensive family-planning and reproductive health services providers could become available to CPCs and thus drain money from comprehensive clinics.

Do CPC provide appropriate healthcare for women? Should CPC receive federal funding for the services they provide? Do young women have access to the full range of healthcare options when facing an unintended pregnancy?