Don't be fooled by Crisis Pregnancy Centers! If you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant, see a medical doctor or licensed practitioner!
Beware of CPCs What are CPCs? Crisis Pregnancy Centers are anti-choice facilities that falsely present themselves as real health care facilities, such as family planning or abortion clinics. However, they are not actually licensed to provide health care. Instead, they may provide misinformation to women, in order to steer women away from abortion at any cost necessary. They often do not actually have a licensed physician on site, and they do not offer or provide abortions or contraception referrals but may initially represent themselves as if they do. According to a Congressional report, 87% of CPCs nationwide have been shown to mislead or lie to their clients. Many CPCs use inappropriate tactics such as providing false information, posing as medical professionals, or continuing to contact you after you have left their facility. There is a growing movement to expose the false advertising characteristic of CPCs. In the meantime, we've provided a list of warning signs and red flags when choosing a family planning clinic. Warning Signs: • CPCs set up in deceiving locations. CPCs are often set up near real health clinics that provide abortions--even in the same building. Make sure you are entering the correct facility. They also set up near college campuses and in working class neighborhoods.
• Don't trust the name of the clinic. While many CPCs have the word "life" in their names, a great number contain the word "choice" (i.e. Birthchoice, A Better Choice, etc.) to fool potential clients into thinking it's a pro-choice clinic.
• Unbiased counseling is unavailable. If they won't provide any straight answers regarding your options over the phone or in person, you should be wary.
• Misleading procedures and uniforms. They perform free pregnancy tests (which are probably over-the-counter) and/or sonograms but very little else. They ask you to give them your personal medical information and request insurance information. They may be wearing white coats or scrubs. This all gives the appearance of a real medical facility but none of the legal protections for your health or information apply. CPCs are not licensed to provide medical services.
• Your personal information is not protected. They are not obligated to be confidential with your information as is required by HIPAA standards. According to cpcwatch.org, there have been reports of CPC staff not letting clients leave when they want. If this happens to you, don't panic. Simply excuse yourself to go the bathroom and call the police! More information:
Change.org describes how to take action
2010 NARAL Report on The Lies, Manipulations, and Privacy Violations of Crisis
Pregnancy Centers in New York City | NOW-NYC Testimony in support of clinic transparency
Hidden Camera Investigation of NYC's Crisis Pregnancy Centers | Video on Exposing CPCs in NYC
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