Crisis Pregnancy Centers: An Anti-Abortion Healthcare Crisis

Crisis pregnancy centers present themselves as genuine healthcare facilities; however, their main goal is to discourage individuals from accessing certain healthcare options like abortion and contraceptives. These centers, a well-supported arm of the global anti-abortion movement, are rapidly expanding by using deceptive tactics, medical disinformation, and public funding. Currently, crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics by an average of 3-to-1.

In this episode of 'The Cost of Extremism,' we delve into the crisis pregnancy center industry and its pivotal role in the anti-abortion movement.

TW: This podcast episode discusses crisis pregnancy centers, which may contain sensitive topics related to reproductive health, abortion, miscarriages, sexual assault, and misinformation tactics.

Resources:
https://www.sisterreach-tn.org/
https://teafund.org/

For a transcript of this episode, please email theswppod@redwine.blue.

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Transcript

The Cost of Extremism - Season 2, Episode 1

Jill (host): This is The Cost of Extremism. Season 2, Episode 1: Crisis Pregnancy Centers, an anti abortion healthcare crisis.

When the term “crisis pregnancy center” comes to mind, you might envision a supportive environment providing women with access to safe and professional reproductive health care. That's the image these centers often project, isn't it? We've all seen the signs displayed across town. There might be a photo of a young woman and her baby with the words “pregnant,” “need help,” and a list of free services being offered. It gives the impression of being a small town, community minded clinic, who simply want to help women receive the reproductive health care they ask for. 

But that's not the truth. The crisis pregnancy center industry operates on a national scale, receiving government funding while serving as a key player in the anti-abortion movement. Despite their outward appearance as qualified health clinics, a closer inspection reveals a network of disinformation and manipulation that poses potential risks to women's health. Crisis pregnancy centers have been around for a while, but it's crucial to acknowledge them for what they truly represent, a threat to a woman's right to choose.

Consider the story of Maleeha Aziz, whose experience showcases the stark realities of CPCs. Newly immigrated from Pakistan, she found herself unexpectedly pregnant as a student in a new country with a different medical system and no immediate desire for parenthood.  

Maleeha Aziz: I knew that I wasn't ready, I did not want to be a parent, and I just didn't realize how difficult it would be to actually have an abortion. So I reached out to my cousin, and I told her, “I'm pregnant. I don't want to be. I don't know where to go.” And she gave me a list of places. She definitely didn't know it at that point, now she does, but I also obviously had no clue. But some of the places on the list were indeed crisis pregnancy centers. 

Jill (host): Maleeha expected a straightforward visit to determine her pregnancy status and move forward with an abortion plan. Yet, she soon realized it wasn't that simple. Crisis pregnancy centers rely on deception in their marketing. Their aim is to attract women seeking abortions, pretending to offer a comprehensive options exploration. They strategically use ads near schools, colleges, and online spaces to target these searches for abortion clinics. When women search for abortion clinics online, these centers ads often appear at the top. A report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate has found that over a two year period, anti abortion groups have spent an estimated 10.2 million on Google search ads. Those ads were clicked on an estimated 13 million times. At the time of their research, they found 976 websites for anti abortion pregnancy centers. Out of those, over a 180 of them had actively run search ads on their site. 

Our instinct is to trust that first thing that pops up from our search is reliable. Why would a search for abortion clinics show you a place that doesn't even offer abortions? Even the location serves a purpose. They often use a co location strategy, positioning themselves near abortion clinics or in the same building, banking on mistaken entries. They even avoid the term crisis pregnancy center, preferring Pregnancy Counseling Centers for a positive spin.

Cherisse Scott: Historically, since I've been in the movement, which is almost 20 years, we have, uh, thought about these kind of anti abortion clinics, these fake clinics, and we've named them crisis pregnancy centers. And maybe at one point, that is what they were called. But as is always the way of the conservative evangelical right, they understand the messaging that we use and they pivot.

Jill (host): Cherisse Scott is the CEO and founder of Sister Reach, a nonprofit that works to support the reproductive autonomy of women and their communities. Prior to Sister Reach's existence, there were no organizations working for reproductive justice in Tennessee. Cherisse founded the organization after her own experience with a crisis pregnancy center posing as an abortion clinic.

Cherisse Scott: They have changed the name of the services that they provide from what we've traditionally known as crisis pregnancy centers to pregnancy counseling centers. And I think that is really important for us to use the language that resonates with the community because that is how they are marketing. So depending on who you talk to, the name of these clinics will vary.

Maleeha Aziz: So I go to this crisis pregnancy center, and it was a little weird because there was biblical, biblical imagery within the center. And I'm Muslim. I was, I was very new to the country, right? So I didn't, I didn't know what to expect from any healthcare setting. I just thought it was weird to have scripture and crosses and within what I thought was a hospital or a clinic or something like that.

Jill (host): Most crisis pregnancy centers have deep ties to religious groups opposing abortion and often have strict anti contraception policies. These affiliations trace back to their origins. In 1967, the first U.S. CPC was established by Robert Pearson in Hawaii. After the state legalized abortion, Pearson authored a manual guiding the creation of similar anti abortion centers, suggesting that accuracy about abortions wasn't necessary because he believed women seeking abortions were condemned by Satan.

After Roe v. Wade in 1973, the pro life movement surged, fostering networks of evangelical activists who organized CPCs into a growing industry with annual conferences and training sessions. Throughout the 80s and 90s, religious groups like Focus on the Family and Care Net, formerly known as the Christian Action Council, fueled the expansion of CPCs. Care Net openly operates under a Christian statement of faith, emphasizing their motivation to share the gospel of Jesus Christ during client interactions to influence pregnancy decisions. So while CPCs’ ties to religion might not always be as obvious as memorabilia hung on the walls, it's still an invisible string tying these centers together.

That's not to say that religion isn't an integral part of the conversation around reproductive justice. In her work with Sister Reach, Cherisse has learned that working in collaboration with the church is important. 

Cherisse Scott: When I started Sister Reach and I moved down here, back down here to Memphis, I knew that we were not going to be able to do our work well without working intentionally with most definitely the Black Christian church, especially since Memphis is predominantly Black and predominantly Christian. A lot of the work that we have done, whether or not we were pushing for comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education, we have done that in partnership with local churches across Christian denominations, because it was really important to make sure that one, folks in the pews who represent the community, who are the community, right, are just as aware and just as energized around issues that were impacting our community.

So to have pastors, once they realized that I was willing to come into a church and teach young people about sex education, to reach out to us and say, “Hey, I need that because I got X amount of teen pregnancies going on here. We got, you know, families that are, you know, dealing with poverty because of it, and we really need some support.” And so we definitely leverage those opportunities to expand that sexual health education to mothers and singles and married couples and elders in the church, right? Because everybody can be impacted by reproductive and sexual health issues from life to death. 

Jill (host): There is endless data stating that abortion is a safe medical procedure, but like we said before, anti abortion centers are notorious for their medical misinformation. Like when Maleeha entered the CPC and assumed she was being cared for by actual medical professionals. 

Maleeha Aziz: I was greeted by two women dressed in lab coats. So giving off the appearance of medical professionals, doctors. They were older. But before, I could even sort of express why we were there or what we needed, they just kind of already started with their appeal, which was abortion so bad. One of the things they told me was abortion causes breast cancer. Abortion causes infertility. And they obviously keep referring to your pregnancy as baby, baby, baby. They don't use fetus or any medical terms. Um, so there's a lot of like emotional guilt that they place on the people that they're counseling or talking to. 

And then they have my partner and I sort of sit in a room and watch a video which was so gross. This felt like a really like low budget horror film. They didn't lock us in but they told us that we had to sit in this room and finish this video So we felt like we couldn't leave. If we needed the services, like, we had to stay. And when we started watching the video, it was of a man who dressed as a doctor. So, you know, someone portraying a doctor in a white coat, taking surgical instruments and ripping apart a full grown child limb to limb. They're basically telling you this is abortion. If you have an abortion, this is what you're doing to a baby. So it was creepy, weird, uncomfortable. And, and my thought was like, probably very triggering to people who've had stillborns or miscarriages, which also happens a lot. So I just, to me, it was just icky and no trigger warnings and that it was just. It was gross.

Jill (host): Crisis pregnancy centers rely on scare tactics to dissuade women from seeking abortions, despite research debunking their claims. Planned Parenthood's investigation found that 80% of CBC websites contained false or misleading information. They often assert a link between abortion and mental health issues, citing terms like post abortion syndrome or post abortion stress, despite these terms lacking recognition and medical manuals. Numerous studies, including research by the American Psychological Association, consistently refute any relationship between abortion and mental health problems.

CPCs also falsely allege connections between abortion, breast cancer, and infertility. Yet, extensive research by reputable institutions like the Mayo Clinic and the American Cancer Society consistently dismiss these claims. One Maryland CPC brochure falsely states an 800 percent increased risk of breast cancer due to early abortion, while another in North Carolina cites a non-existent study in which every single 18 year old who chose to have an abortion was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Additionally, CPCs spread misinformation about contraception. Investigations such as one conducted by Reproductive Freedom for All revealed instances where CPCs deceptively likened birth control to abortion and advocated for abstinence as the sole contraceptive method. This misleading guidance can endanger reproductive health and limit access to accurate information about birth control options.

CBCs also manipulate pregnant individuals through misleading information about gestational age, using graphic visuals and intentional misinformation. These tactics delay women from accessing timely abortions and potentially jeopardize their health. It doesn't help that the majority of people who work and volunteer at CBCs aren't even medically trained.

Maleeha Aziz: I had a lot of anxiety before going for the sonogram, obviously because I was pregnant and I didn't want to be, but there are other factors. I'm a survivor of sexual assault. I have this condition because of my sexual assault where any sort of pelvic penetration is very painful and that includes, you know, speculums and pelvic exams and transvaginal ultrasounds. I tried to express that to the other person who was there dressed in scrubs. It's probably not a healthcare professional, I know now, but I tried to ask and tell her and explain why I was anxious and, you know, I talked about my sexual assault. She knew nothing about the condition whatsoever, vaginismus, which I would expect a medical professional to know.

But there was also a point where, um, one of them told me that abortion was so dangerous that the state of Texas had actually banned one of the pills needed to obtain the procedure because women were hemorrhaging and dying and their bleeding was not being controlled. I know now that's a lie, but back then I didn't. And I think that's when I went into panic mode because I went with the intent of wanting a medication abortion. So when they told me that, I completely lost it. I was terrified. I was scared. 

Jill (host): These ultrasounds give the impression of CBCs being legitimate medical facilities, but the truth is that they're non diagnostic and often done by untrained and unlicensed staff.

Maleeha Aziz: Because of them, I traveled to Colorado Springs to have my abortion. Because they told me the pill was banned in Texas, and I believed them. But it was nearly two grand to travel out of state and have an abortion, and that was money I did not have back then. And I didn't know about abortion funds. Thankfully, I do now, and I work with one, but I didn't back then. To most people, a hundred bucks may not seem like a lot, but when you are, you know, when you're like, you only have seven dollars in your account, a hundred bucks is a lot of money. Especially as a college student. 

And it wasn't until I started working for T Fund almost five years ago that I learned that they lied to me. And abortion was never illegal in Texas back then. Like, now, now, obviously we're talking about a different time. But back then, when I was trying to have my abortion, I could have had a medication abortion in Texas. They lied to me, they misled me, and that is why I ended up traveling to another state to get care.

Jill (host): Malia's experience with crisis pregnancy centers was over 10 years ago, but the issue is more prevalent now than ever. In 2022, the U S Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade, the landmark ruling that protected abortion rights for half a century. Abortion clinics all across the country were shut down, as states either passed laws severely restricting or banning abortions.

By now, I'm sure you can guess what filled that gap in health care. As of 2023, CPCs outnumber abortion clinics by a national average of 3 to 1, with over 2500 centers operating in the United States. This ratio only increases in states like Pennsylvania, with 9 to 1, and Minnesota, with 11 to 1. As time goes on, it's only becoming harder to access the reproductive care that women to serve.

Maleeha Aziz: The barriers are endless. I would say the law is probably the biggest barrier. Um, but people are able to go out of state. But, you know, travel is a privilege no matter what. So people who are unable to travel due to disability, due to children, due to jobs, you know, just we can give them all the funding, but there may be other circumstances for which, you know, they're not able to travel. So that's definitely a barrier. People being unable to travel. Finances are one despite funding. There are very few organizations that can fund 100%, and sometimes that's, that's really what somebody needs. Obviously, for low income people of color, we know that the barriers are far greater.  

Jill (host): So who's funding these centers? Well, you are, in a way. While some CPC funding comes from private donations, an increasing sum of money is coming from taxpayer funding. Government funding began in the 1990s, but it really took off under the Bush administration in the early 2000s, with allotments from federal programs designed to support abstinence only education programs.

In addition, as of 2023, at least 10 states have diverted funding from federal programs. funds from the Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, also known as TAMF. The grants are meant to help vulnerable families meet their basic needs, such as food, rent, and child care. Today, millions of taxpayer dollars are spent annually on CPCs. 

Let's take a closer look at one of the states funding CPCs. Pennsylvania was the first state to divert state funding to crisis pregnancy centers. According to research done by the Alliance Study, there are 156 CPCs in the state and only 17 abortion clinics. Out of those 156, roughly 27 are funded by an organization named Real Alternatives. The organization is known for the misuse of public funds, waste, and lack of transparency. But nevertheless, Pennsylvania has diverted more than 100 million into their CPCs. 

Sen. Katie Muth: I can remember in 2019, um, someone had brought this to my attention in June that we, we fund this and I asked one of our senior leaders why and the answer I got was this was a battle not worth having and that the Catholic conference insisted on it, then you start to realize how underfunded other parts of the government are. And so you're like, “Why? Why are we giving millions of dollars to entities that actually end up harming people instead of funding the things that help people?” 

Jill (host): That was Katie Muth, a Pennsylvania state senator representing District 44. After discovering that PA funds CPCs, Muth, along with state senators Judy Schwenk and Amanda Cappelletti, hosted hearings to explore the history of CPCs and the state's role in funding them. The hearing took place at the Harrisburg Capital and featured testimony from medical professionals, students, a former CPC volunteer, and a CPC advocate. Their objective? Showcase the horror stories of CPCs and their deceptive practices.  

Sen. Katie Muth: I think that the fact that these places exist and that they're funded by taxpayer dollars shows how much of a battle we still have ahead of us relative to reproductive rights. You know, some people, the Republicans, colleagues of mine in the Senate, will say we're making this political and it's like, no, it's a sham, a sham healthcare provider, meaning people are going there seeking healthcare. And if a woman has a delay in care, who may be pregnant, that could end up harming the baby or her.

And so that aspect of it is incredibly troubling in terms of what are we spending our money on instead of funding programs that actually help people, in this instance women and possibly pregnant women. For 30 years these entities have been eligible for funding. How do they get introduced? Who are they affiliated with?

And so, you know, my, my knowledge of it is the administrative entities that help these nonprofits are out of state and have made millions of dollars off of administrative services, but they're all affiliated often with a nonprofit that's conservative in terms of choice. or anti choice, or they are religiously affiliated typically with the Catholic Church. I say that with the caveat that there's a lot of them, so I don't want to put them all under the same umbrella, but in, in the mixture of those combinations, that is what we tend to see in terms of who, uh, runs these, these centers. 

Once we learned about this and that we were still funding it, especially we had a House majority of Democrats, we were like “what are we doing?” The budget's a giant negotiation. And to be very blunt and honest with whoever's listening to this, it's a negotiation off of people's livelihoods. It's not a process based off of need, it's, “hey, let's stay within this number so we don't look like we're fiscally irresponsible” or, or whatever, instead of funding our state based on need. And to be clear, our state has no shortage of revenue. We have over 8 billion with a B dollars sitting in a rainy day fund that could be used in addition to a budget surplus in the billions as well from, from tax revenue that we've taken in. And so it's not based on need. 

Jill (host): Thanks to the tireless work done by Senator Katie Muth, abortion rights activists, and countless others, a change is coming to Pennsylvania.

Sen. Katie Muth: The governor decided that they would end the contracts with Real Alternatives. 

Jill (host): Instead, the State Department of Human Services will ask for applications from legitimate women's health providers across the state to fund their health programs. The Shapiro administration states that this is an important step in ensuring that women receive the reproductive health care they deserve, but it's not just huge statewide government changes that are making an impact; grassroot and community focus organizations are changing people's lives on a wide scale.

Cherisse Scott: I think on the other side of Roe v. Wade being overturned and the trigger ban in our state, I feel like for the very first time since I've been in this movement, as a Black woman, I am able to focus our efforts on some of the issues that are extremely important, that have always been important, but have many times been deprioritized because we were always in the throes of fighting all of these kind of anti abortion attacks.

I am the poster child for what sex ed can do in the life of the people that we're trying to serve in this kind of repro ecosystem, right? I came to this work as someone who had been impacted by a crisis pregnancy center. I still got pregnant three more times after the baby that I had that I needed an abortion. Nothing changed in that until somebody taught me about my body, right? And so, you know, investing in comprehensive and reproductive sexual health education means that we are giving people the tools to not need an abortion clinic anymore. They don't not need to have to cross state lines and potentially worry about criminalization if they don't have to, right?

Of course we can't, you know, we can't put our finger on stopping rape, you know, and incest and molestation. And we can't, we haven't, we haven't solved human trafficking and all of the things that go with that. And just, you know, the need for sex work versus people potentially, you know, utilizing sex work maybe as a way that they raise money for themselves and their families. But empowering people with the tools, right? Me knowing about emergency contraception saved my life. Me understanding when I'm ovulating and when I'm not was a total game changer. Me knowing how to make sure that that condom is used properly. It was a game changer, right? 

And so, you know, unless we are willing to, you know, put in the work to make sure that people don't need us, I think that that's the work for us. We need to, you know, comp sex ed helps people not need us, which ought to be a part of our kind of repro ecosystem goal. We want folks to not need us at some point. Um, and until we do that, you know, we're going to constantly have to continue to advocate for the things that we're advocating for.  

Jill (host): In Cherisse’s work, Sister Reach puts a focus on supporting women and teens of color, poor and rural women, and LGBTQ plus people through the framework of reproductive justice. These are the communities most impacted by CPCs, but they're also the most commonly overlooked. 

Cherisse Scott: I've learned that, you know, the power of Black people teaching Black people about Black bodies and Black health, uh, really matters. It really matters. And reproductive justice is an organizing framework created by Black women to center our whole lives, and everything that it was that we were going through. And it is almost 30 years old. It'll be 30 years old next year. These 12 Black women who created this framework absolutely partnered with other women of color to, uh, to expand and kind of culturalize that was very specific to their own lives. lived experiences, cultures, religious practices, all of that. This has grown to ensure that, you know, the person who is most impacted is in the center of the lens and not necessarily the agenda of a campaign or a political issue, right? And I've definitely expanded to reproductive and sexual justice to be more mindful of, uh, gender expanse of folks and men and boys. 

Jill (host): Since her experience with an anti abortion center, Maleeha has gone on to become the Deputy Director of Texas Equal Access Fund, an organization that provides funding to low income people in Texas that are seeking abortions but can't afford it.

Maleeha Aziz: My CPC  story is deeper. It's a big part of my abortion experience for me. Because I built a whole campaign around it at Texas Equal Access Fund, which is like a counter, so it's sort of like an educational campaign talking to people about the dangers of these centers. And we try not to say “crisis pregnancy centers,” because let's be real, they're not helping people through crisis. We say “anti-abortion centers,” because that's what they are. That is their only purpose, their only goal. So our campaign is called My Choice, Not a Crisis, and we educate people, but we also try to serve as a true alternative to these centers that actually provides care. 

And we had our first infant care resource drive, a couple of months ago. We helped 60 families in two hours. We do things like give away free diapers, wipes, no questions asked, no applications needed. We're not going to collect your information. We're not going to call you six months from now. If you need something, we're here for you. Please take it. Take as much as you need. And you know, you're on, you're free to go. You don't have to interact with us after that. 

Jill (host): While not everyone can start organizations like these amazing women, there are still steps that each of us can take in order to help bring an end to anti abortion clinics. 

Sen. Katie Muth: I think it's a campaign of public awareness. But with that said, I never, I think it's important to not shame people for not knowing what they don't know, because it's not like the government does any phenomenal job of getting this information out. These anti abortion organizations are everywhere. They're powerful. They're well funded. They're, they're the whole way up to the federal government. We have to just get the word out that they are not providing real health care. 

Maleeha Aziz: Education is number one. People need to know. Awareness and education. And then donate to people like us and not CPCs, because we actually do provide the services that they claim to provide, which they really don't. They traumatize people, they hurt people, they harm people, and they, they take state funding meant for families that are needy and, and in need of assistance and then they just kind of wave it in their faces like a quid pro quo, like, “we'll do this if you could do this for us.” That's not how it's supposed to be. If somebody needs help and you want to help because you have a kind heart, then you help them. No questions asked. And you help them with no expectations in return. And just a reminder, while an abortion may be a difficult decision for some, it's a very easy decision for some, and both are totally okay.

Jill (host): Like we've learned from these incredible activists, we all need to put the work in if we want to make a change. Join Red Wine and Blue in our mission to end the harmful practice of crisis pregnancy centers. Through community education, we want to spread factual information about the risks associated with CPCs and ensure everyone's right to unbiased, and safe reproductive health care.

So talk to everyone you know about the impact CPCs have on reproductive rights. A simple conversation with a friend or family member might have more of an impact than you can ever imagine.