Deceitful and Dangerous
Katherine Heerbrandt
Originally published February 22, 2008
FrederickNewsPost.com
Manipulative, deceptive, a real con game.
That's the verdict handed down in a recent report by NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland Fund about Maryland's crisis pregnancy centers.
The Jan. 14 report, "The Truth Revealed," is especially timely because the General Assembly is considering a bill that will provide state funding to these centers. Currently supported by churches and donations, many of them, according to the report, lure women in with promises of free pregnancy tests and confidential counseling, only to pressure them with misleading and inaccurate medical information.
The goal? To prevent them from choosing abortion.
Unsuspecting clients, usually from poor backgrounds, are forced to watch videos of abortions while waiting for the results of their pregnancy tests. Counselors tell these women that having an abortion will greatly increase their chances of breast cancer, and that women who have abortions are more likely to commit suicide, among other patently wrong assertions.
The report found that not only are these centers falsely advertising their mission, they employ mostly volunteers, most of whom are not certified counselors and have little, if any, medical training. They offer no substantiative information on adoption, parenting or employment support, and are not held to any regulatory standards.
Rarely do they offer information on contraception, preaching abstinence and the rhythm method instead.
NARAL sent a pair of trained investigators into 11 centers throughout Maryland after hearing complaints from former clients. "In one form or another, every single center visited misrepresented the risks associated with abortion," either verbally, on their websites or in the pamphlets they provide, the report says.
An investigator reported that she was "counseled" that killing her baby was dangerous and that many women bleed to death on the table. Another was told that abortion causes infertility problems and that she will "definitely get breast cancer" should she go that route.
Perhaps the most dangerous and outrageous statement from a so-called counselor is that abortion is legal through the entire nine months of pregnancy.
Abortions have been on the decline since 1990, and while prolifers want to take the credit, it's unclear what factors play into the trend, including sex education and wider availability of contraception.
While the goal of reducing the number of abortions in Maryland is applauded by those on both sides of the issue, the means, in this case, do not justify the ends.
What it amounts to is that the centers employing deceptive practices are performing a grave disservice to their cause and to the women they counsel.
Why not represent themselves as they truly are and let women decide if they want the types of services they offer? And if those who contribute and support these centers really want to make a difference, why not use their resources to support these women with adoption, education and employment services?
Before the Pregnancy Support Act gives these centers and their ilk any taxpayer money, they need to be held to the same standards as other family planning centers in terms of training, certifications and confidentiality.
More importantly, the state should require that crisis pregnancy centers be upfront about their mission, and that any medical information they dispense be factual.
Otherwise, taxpayers will be supporting the promulgation of a deceitful and damaging practice.
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