Deception, misinformation or truth: What’s really true about ‘crisis pregnancy centers’?
Education and critical thinking skills can help avoid pitfalls.
Guest Column by Sheri Olson, Executive Director | Path of Life
Editor’s note: The national 40 Days for Life Campaign began Sept. 25, with Walk for Life NW’s annual event in Spokane on Oct. 27. FāVS presents point-counterpoint columns on “crisis pregnancy centers,” which started with the abortion-rights perspective yesterday. The anti-abortion view follows below.
No one wants to be deceived, but everyone has found themselves believing lies at some point. When falsehood is spread, frequent repetition is a common way to make a lie seem real. Whole societies have been duped, then damaged or destroyed by countless lies. How can we avoid the pitfalls of lies and misinformation?
Critical thinking skills known as evaluating the evidence given is one way to determine the validity of a claim. After I read the OtherWords article entitled, “Anti-Abortion Centers Deceive Patients. Here’s How We Fight Back” (Deceive), I quickly realized this is an opinion piece since there was no evidence for the claims made that would permit evaluation of their validity. The purpose of this response is to refute many of those false claims. while demonstrating how to better serve those experiencing an unintended pregnancy.
The unsubstantiated claims
The Deceive article contains no less than 11 unsubstantiated statements. I will tackle the major false claims and bundle a few together for the sake of brevity, proving their invalidity.
Deceive begins with a description of Attleboro Women’s Health Center. When I visited Attleboro’s website, I discovered the Deceive article contains inaccuracies in its first two statements. First, the website does not reference “pregnancy counseling” as stated in the article. It references “pregnancy consultation.”
The difference is counseling means “professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods,” while consultation means “consider; ask advice or opinion of.”
Second, Deceive states that Attleboro “aims to deceive, delay, and dissuade pregnant people from accessing abortion care.” No support for this statement is on the website or in the article. The website states: “The licensed medical professionals at Attleboro Women’s Health Center specialize in pregnancy confirmation and helping those who are facing an unintended pregnancy. Our services are provided at no cost, and we do not profit from your choice. We do not provide gynecologic or extended obstetrical care, nor do we perform or refer for abortion services.” The website makes their intent clear— assistance for the client. The organization does not coerce nor profit from the client’s choice.
Reproductive health care provider vs. pregnancy center
Deceive also stated that “centers promote themselves as reproductive health care providers, but typically aren’t licensed to provide medical care.” An online search of the term “reproductive health care provider” yields no local pregnancy centers. Further this language is not used on the Attleboro site. This argument has no basis in fact.
As to the second portion of this claim that centers typically aren’t licensed to provide medical care can be refuted by referring to the above statement on the Attleboro website referencing their “licensed medical professionals.”
At one pregnancy care facility in our city, seven medical professionals are all licensed with the State of Washington. Throughout the United States, there are nearly 2,000 medical pregnancy centers providing ultrasound services and STD/STI testing and treatment. Some of these facilities provide additional services of medical exams and prenatal care.
To make a blanket statement that the medical professionals at these facilities are unlicensed is a false assumption and an affront to their training, extensive education and licensure. Additionally, those seeking services have the ability to search and check credentialing of any provider.
High standards of pregnancy centers
The claims that pregnancy centers are not “subject to regulations on privacy for patient data” and that client “data is often stored on insecure servers, and harbored without the consent of patients” are patently false. Pregnancy centers maintain extremely high standards of confidentiality and privacy of client data. Client files are maintained on secure servers and access to those files is very limited.
Clients generally sign a Request for Services or similar form and give consent for each and every service provided at a pregnancy center. The other related claim that “these centers surveil people as they navigate their reproductive health care” is also false. I have absolutely no idea how that would be accomplished by a pregnancy center that is generally operating primarily with volunteers, privately funded on a shoestring budget.
The majority of pregnancy centers offer all services entirely free and do not bill for any services. So, they often give women HIPAA-like protections where the law does not even require it. As such, pregnancy centers go beyond what is required by law to protect the confidentiality of their clients.
The statement is also made by Deceive that pregnancy centers are “meant to confuse, deceive and shame patients for making their own informed choices.” Quite to the contrary, most pregnancy centers are serving client needs, providing them with accurate information as well as sufficient time to consider all their options.
Good decisions are generally well-informed and pregnancy centers focus on client education, trusting that pressured decisions made in haste or governed by fear foster future regret.
Pregnancy centers do not limit patient choices
It is unconscionable that anyone would desire to limit opportunities for choice. Clients at pregnancy centers are not shamed for their choices, but are always welcomed back for another consultation, STD/STI test or for post-abortion care as requested, free of charge. Clients who consistently post exceptionally high reviews demonstrating positive experiences at 97.4% for pregnancy centers are the best resources for this information. This has been true at our center as well.
The only negative reviews posted for our center were by individuals stating “they do not provide abortions,” which is accurate and stated on our website and print materials as is the industry standard throughout the country. The individuals posting these negative reviews do not live in our state and have never even been to our center.
A 2022 national study completed by the Charlotte Lozier Institute states: “The countless stories mothers and fathers have shared about the high quality of services, as well as the love and support of people who came alongside them at pregnancy centers, continue to reflect the gratitude of clients for the care they received and the choice they made even through very difficult circumstances.”
In conclusion, client experience at pregnancy centers depicts a vastly different perspective than the Deceive opinion piece. Therefore, it appears that education, choice and options for clients may not be the intended goal of Deceive.
We appreciate this opportunity to provide a differing viewpoint as well as additional education in order to serve our communities more accurately.
