Hi Rulers! Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and is staying cool. I spent my long weekend hiking in Asheville, North Carolina, and while that was beautiful, I’m excited to be back in the constant flow of AC. This week, I delved into the discourse surrounding crisis pregnancy centers two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Let’s get into it. In the U.S., crisis pregnancy centers — also known as anti-abortion centers or pregnancy resource centers — have been around for more than half a century. But in the two years since Roe was overturned, states have significantly increased funding for these centers. The goal of crisis pregnancy centers: to encourage pregnant people to continue with their pregnancies. Proponents argue these centers, which are usually run by anti-abortion activists, provide an essential service because they help women prepare for motherhood — through providing diapers or baby formula or offering parenting classes. But abortion rights advocates have claimed these centers are deliberately deceptive, spreading misinformation about pregnancy and abortion. According to Dr. Leilah Zahedi-Spung, a maternal-fetal medicine physician affiliated with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, crisis pregnancy centers can pose threats to pregnant patients who haven’t ruled out getting an abortion. In an issue brief, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which opposes these centers, argues, "Staff members at these unregulated and often nonmedical facilities have no legal obligation to provide pregnant people with accurate information and are not subject to HIPAA or required by law to maintain client confidentiality.” But Ingrid Duran, a state legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, argues the centers provide vital information to expectant mothers about their fetuses. "As far as giving the information that they're giving at pregnancy resource centers, typically tends to be scientific information about the developing unborn child,” Duran tells Women Rule. “So they might say, 'at such and such time, the unborn child has the capacity to feel pain' ... And I think the reason why the opposition has such a problem with this is that at any moment that you're humanizing the baby, it kind of would make abortion less appealing." The centers have received continued support in states with abortion restrictions, such as Louisiana and Mississippi, where tax credits have been passed to assist with funding, and where abortion is now effectively illegal. Texas approved $140 million in 2023 to support crisis pregnancy centers through 2025. Last year, North Dakota’s Department of Public Health established services that provide women with information on abortion alternatives. These days, crisis pregnancy centers are more prevalent in states with laws protecting abortion access, such as Massachusetts or California, where these centers outnumber actual abortion clinics by 20 percent. In Massachusetts, Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein says crisis centers outnumber clinics that provide abortions two-to-one. “We have an abundance of anti-abortion centers that have popped up across the state,” he tells Women Rule. And in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, Goldstein says it’s important to keep patients aware of their options. In June, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s administration launched an advertisement campaign highlighting “the dangers and potential harm of anti-abortion centers.” “Everybody should walk into a health care setting and know that they are being delivered trustworthy, honest information,” Goldstein says. “When that's not happening, it is the job of the Department of Public Health to educate people about the dangers of walking into particular facilities.” Meanwhile, in California, Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta is targeting crisis pregnancy centers without licensed staff under a new state law that prohibits unlicensed clinics or practitioners from performing prenatal ultrasounds. In June, Bonta ordered two unlicensed centers to halt their operations “Since the repeal of Roe v. Wade, we have seen continued attacks on reproductive health care,” DPH spokesperson Christine Lee says in an emailed statement. “It is now more imperative than ever that people are educated about their rights and the ability to exercise those rights.” In 2022, Bonta issued a consumer alert about the centers, which included a complaint form. His office also demanded the centers show proof they provide medically accurate information in compliance with state sex education policy. At the federal level, Democratic Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who both serve on the House Oversight Committee, have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate funding for crisis pregnancy centers. They’re also requesting a study looking into how much federal funding these centers receive annually. "Given the concerns from medical professionals and reproductive health experts that CPCs are not bound by medical and ethical practice standards and often do not provide medically accurate information or health care, and the resources they do provide are tied to undermining maternal health and access to abortion, we have serious concerns that CPCs continue to receive millions in federal aid with little transparency and accountability to the public,” they write.
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