The honest of Crisis Pregnancy Centres

[badbabysitter]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/wo...-Hunt-to-act-on-Crisis-Pregnancy-Centres.html



MPs are urging Jeremy Hunt to regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centres as a new report reveals at least 38 nationwide abortion advice centres have misled vulnerable women.

The findings come after an exclusive Telegraph undercover investigation first revealed that counsellors at two Crisis Pregnancy Centres (CPCs) - places that provide advice to women considering a termination - were wrongly warning that an abortion could lead to an increased risk of breast cancer, infertility and even a propensity to sexually abuse children.

Stephen Dorrell, the Conservative MP for Charnwood and chair of the Health Select Committee, told the Telegraph that he has written to Mr Hunt pressing him for action in light of this paper’s findings.

He said: “Most people in this country will regard it as unacceptable for pregnant women to seek advice from somewhere, which says it offers advice, and receive people’s prejudiced opinions instead.”



His sentiments are echoed by three other MPs; however, the Health Secretary has so far refused to comment, despite repeat attempts by The Telegraph.

The report, compiled by Brook, a national sexual health charity, found that a further 36 (on top of the two already exposed by The Telegraph) of 135 CPCs distributed misleading information or attempted to emotionally manipulate vulnerable women who had entered their centres for advice. These centres are dotted across the UK and can be found in every major city, including Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford and Edinburgh.

One counsellor told an undercover researcher that terminations can lead to women committing criminal acts, the report claimed.

Two other CPCs offered women ultrasound scans, with promotional materials that ‘make it clear that scans are carried out with the sole intention of persuading people not to have abortions’, according to Brook.

The disclosures will anger advocates of impartial abortion advice, who argue that the centres are bankrolled by ‘pro-life’ religious organisations.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, a former GP who is now the Conservative MP for Totnes and a member of the Health Select Committee, reiterated her calls today for Mr Hunt to review the abortion counselling services: “There has to be transparency about who is funding these organisations and whether they are anti-abortion.

“If a 'clinic' is giving medical advice it should come under the remit of the Care Quality Commission which should then have the powers to close it if it is giving out completely false information.

“It is time for a general review of these counselling services.”

The Brook report, which builds upon The Telegraph’s findings, also found that at least four CPCs with religious affiliations had infiltrated GP practices and hospitals.

Other CPCs, none of which are regulated, were receiving referrals from local GPs and hospitals, the report said.

Concerns have been raised in recent years over the objectivity of advice offered women considering termination. Anti-abortion campaigners believe that women should visit an independent centre before undergoing the procedure because they say there is a potential conflict of interest in women receiving counselling from an organisation that also carries out terminations, such as BPAS.

Brook researchers were also given images of foetal development, medically unsound advice and counselled by advisers with ‘a clear bias towards adoption’.

In 2011, a bill introduced in the Commons to stop abortion providers from pre-abortion counselling was defeated. The government also scrapped plans for a consultation on whether women should be required to undergo independent counselling prior to an abortion.

Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who proposed amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill 2011, said in light of the Telegraph’s investigation:: “Jeremy Hunt needs to establish how abortion counselling should look.

“We need to go to a professional organisation like the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and ask them to develop, on behalf of the government, a non-directional, agenda-free, abortion provision counselling model that we can then adopt into the guidelines.”

The Brook report concluded that the quality of services provided by CPCs was ‘extremely variable’ with significant numbers of CPCs spreading ‘myths’ about abortion via websites, leaflets and counselling sessions.

Simon Blake OBE, Chief Executive of Brook, said: “It is simply immoral and unacceptable to masquerade as a service that helps clients make decisions through exploring choices, when the reality is – as this report based on young women's experiences shows – at some CPCs you will get a mixture of misinformation, coercion and fright tactics.”

Luciana Berger MP, Labour's shadow public health minister, said:

"Anyone reading these comments made to women by people purporting to be counsellors will be disturbed.

"In light of this emerging evidence on women receiving incorrect information, we must look again at the lack of regulation in this area.

"Abortion counsellors should be neutral. It cannot be right that they provide advice to women not based on evidence."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “The provision of non-judgemental counselling about abortion is clearly important. It is for NHS providers to ensure that the services they recommend meet this need.”

 

[badbabysitter]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...enters-mislead-women-new-laws-fight-back.html


When 21-year old Amy found out she was pregnant, she was torn between knowing she couldn't support both herself and a child, and her religious beliefs, which taught that abortion was wrong. Unsure about what to do but leaning toward an abortion, Amy (not her real name) scoured the Internet for abortion services. She came upon the Arlington Pregnancy Center near her Texas home, which advertised help for unplanned pregnancies, counseling on abortion, and, most importantly, free services.

The financial relief “was one of the things that drew me in,” said Amy, a college student.


After arriving at the center and telling the counselor she was considering an abortion but interested in hearing about other options, Amy was left alone in a room to watch a video. For the next 20 minutes, she listened to a list of false and misleading information: that fetuses at four weeks old already have a heartbeat and developed fingers, that 50 percent of women who abort get breast cancer, and that 30 percent of women who get abortions die within the first year due to complications. In the video, a rape victim discussed how she could forgive her rapist before she could forgive herself for having an abortion.

Later, in a last-ditch attempt to stop her from terminating her pregnancy, Amy’s pregnancy counselor tried to reach her at her boyfriend’s home, whose number Amy had given to the center. Her boyfriend’s mother, who happened to be visiting, answered the phone, and when she asked what the center was calling about, the woman from the center disclosed Amy’s intent to get an abortion.

The facility Amy visited is known as a crisis pregnancy center. CPCs have long operated under the guise of reproductive health care, but in reality function as an arm of the antiabortion rights movement. With neutral names like the Center for Pregnancy Concerns and the Pregnancy Care Center, CPCs typically promise free services to young women panicking in the wake of an unexpected pregnancy. In many cities, they advertise on public transit. A typical ad lists a phone number and reads, “Had sex? Have questions? Pregnant? Need help? You are not alone. We are here for you.”

But rather than help and objective counseling, Amy was bullied. She was accused of “not [being] a true Christian,” despite the fact that she attends church regularly, and was told “if I continued down this path I was going to hell.” She wasn’t allowed to leave until she had made an appointment to come back for an ultrasound.

“If I knew they wouldn’t provide abortions, I definitely would never have gone there,” Amy said.

Typically funded by conservative evangelical and Catholic religious groups, CPCs actively lobby women against abortion and even birth control. In a form of emotional manipulation, CPCs often encourage "abortion-minded" clients to undergo ultrasounds in the hope that seeing the fetus will create an emotional attachment to it and dissuade a woman from abortion. A 2006 Congressional investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) found that 20 of 23 CPCs gave women false medical information, such as telling them that abortion increases the incidence of breast cancer, suicide, and fertility problems.

Until recently, CPCs have been largely unregulated, even though they are eligible for federal abstinence-only funding. But in November, the city of Baltimore, influenced by lobbying from Maryland’s NARAL and Planned Parenthood chapters, enacted a disclosure law requiring limited-service pregnancy centers to post signage if they don’t provide or refer for abortion or birth control.

Since November, other locales have followed Baltimore’s example. Montgomery County, Maryland, passed a similar ordinance in February, and Austin, Texas, pushed through a bill in April. In Congress, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) recently re-introduced the Stop Deceptive Advertising Women’s Services Act, and campaigns in California and Oregon plan to target lawmakers at the municipal level in 2011.

At one CPC technicians tap out “messages” from unborn babies (“hi mommy and daddy”) as they perform ultrasounds.



It’s not uncommon for young women to stumble upon CPCs, which often list themselves under “abortion services” or “abortion clinics.” NARAL Pro-Choice America, which discovered more than 100 centers in 25 states advertising under such a guise, is crusading to get those centers delisted from online directories.

The 800 comprehensive clinics providing abortion in the United States are vastly outnumbered by the approximately 4,000 crisis pregnancy centers. But the recent movement to stop CPCs’ deceptive advertising is giving pro-choice organizations hope that they may be finding their way out of what had long seemed like a losing, or at the very least dormant, battle.

“Local government taking action is something new,” said Ted Miller, communications director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “It was a great step forward to have a city like Baltimore pass that kind of an ordinance.”

Pro-choice groups have been investigating CPCs for years and attempting to regulate them at the state level, but finding support on that level has been “challenging,” said Amy Everitt, state director of NARAL Pro-Choice California. Between 2004 and 2010, seven states considered legislation related to CPCs, but none passed.

Unsurprisingly, antiabortion groups are fighting back now that localities are taking action against CPCs. The Baltimore and Montgomery County laws are already being challenged. In March, the archbishop of Baltimore and the Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns filed a lawsuit against the city, which is still pending, claiming that the recently passed ordinance violates First Amendment protections and disregards legitimate services provided at CPCs.

Thomas Schetelich, chairman of the Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns, objects to the fact that his facilities were required to post signs, in English and Spanish, explicitly stating that “we don’t provide or refer for birth control, which is not true because we do—we deal with abstinence and natural family planning.” In addition, Schetelich said the centers also provide pregnant women with food, clothing, baby formula, diapers, toys, parenting skills, and Bible study, all for free. “I frankly would have hoped that Baltimore City Council would be more appreciative of the enormous volunteer efforts that were made for the poor of the city,” Schetelich said.

Though not all CPCs engage in deceptive and manipulative practices, Amy’s experience isn't an anomaly. In the upcoming documentary 12th & Delaware, airing Aug. 2 on HBO, filmmakers Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing lead cameras into a Florida CPC located directly across the street from an abortion clinic. The CPC in the film plied typically poor and minority women with offers of free food (one woman is given a McDonald’s meal while she waits), free ultrasounds in which technicians tap out “messages” from unborn babies (“Hi mommy and daddy”), and lies about the probable timing of conception so women miss their window of opportunity to get an abortion.

A few weeks ago, at six and a half weeks pregnant, Amy walked past protesters waving religious pamphlets and calling her a murderer. She went into a reproductive health clinic and got an abortion. “I never thought I’d be in a position where I’d get an abortion,” Amy said. “I was finding myself against my religion.”

“But,” she continued, “a woman has a right.”

 

[RobDownSouth]

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers" are largely staffed by Christian perverts, i.e. those who pervert the Christian faith to promote their own interpretation of the Bible.

They prey on the weak and vulnerable, so I suppose you could make a case that they are Christian predators as well.

You might recall that our own Julybaby04 has bragged about her work in these places. Enough said.

 

[phrodeau]

They're giving McDonalds meals to pregnant women? That has got to be criminal.

 

[pointless]

we have one of those joints in my town. i have never seen any evidence that people actually exist inside of it. sure, this is partially because i'll never get pregnant in the first place, but also because it's kind of a shithole. seriously, it's dilapidated old house w/ a soda machine and a wooden sign on the front porch. it's not exactly inviting.

 

[julybaby04]

Just saw this thread and thought I would share the HONEST of the Test Pregnancy Center I work in (by the way, many pregnancies are not "crisis", so we do not use that name.....

This is what REALLY happens in the center I work in......The center I work in does this:

1. There is NO Federal money...not one single dime, taken. The center runs off of donations and fund raisers.

2. The FIRST thing we share with the women is that we are NOT a medical facility and will not give out ANY medical advice.

3. We do have medically licensed doctors who give up their lunch hour, once a week, to come to the center to perform vaginal ultrasounds for those women who want them. These are scheduled and the women do not have to come if they do not want to. Regular ultrasounds are also performed from 8 weeks to 20 weeks. These are also scheduled out, and again, the women can come if they wish, as they are free.

3. In my city, to apply for Medicaid and get help during pregnancy, a positive pregnancy test has to have been done (not just one at home). It is EXACTLY the same urine test as one can do at home, but it is done in a controlled place. There are only TWO places in my city which do this, my center and the County Health Department. Many women come to us as the Health Department charges $15.00 to do the test. We do it for free. As a matter of fact, many women tell us that the Health Department suggest coming to us for the test simply because it is free.

4. When the women are meeting with a counselor, there are many things discussed. I know, for me personally, I ask about how they are, physically as well as emotionally, if they have a plan for the baby, and answer ANY questions they have. It is a Christian test center and these women walk in knowing this. I do ask if I can share about God, but if they say no....that is the end of that discussion. Also, there is NO ONE in my center that "requires" these women to do anything. Everything is voluntary. Also, no one tells these women that will "burn in hell" or anything of the sort. These women, if the pregnancy was not planned, are usually scared and upset. We listen TO THEM! We offer advice when asked for.

5. NEVER do we ask who the father is nor his age. If the women want to share his information, that is completely up to them. We do know the age of the women, obviously and we ask start date of last menstrual cycle. We don't give actual birth due dates as we are not medical professionals. We can give an estimate and tell them it is to be confirmed by their doctor. In the ultrasounds, we NEVER give the sex of the baby, again, not a medical professional and not our place, even though we have doctors and some nurses who volunteer there and do the ultrasounds.

6. As far as options, most women say they want to keep the baby. I have had, I think, 4 clients who were interested in adoption and so that information is shared. I have had a couple of clients (that I know of) that have gone on to abort their baby. We do not encourage abortion and give no information about it. The women can find that out on their own if they want one.

7. The women, can at any time, get up and walk out. There is no one keeping them there nor would anyone try to. These women come in of their own free will. There are many who are married. There are some who are underage. There are some who just got pregnant by accident. It runs the gambit.

This is a overview of what we do at the Center I work at. Your articles are fun to read and such, but like I said, unless you actually work there, you probably don't have a clue.

I am sure not every clinic is so strict in making sure that no one crosses any line. We are though. We know the regulations about test centers and follow them strictly. There is no scaring of the women, judging them, or harming them in any way. We are there to confirm or not, a pregnancy. We are there to listen and offer advice when asked for. We are there to encourage and support these women.

Like it or not, not ALL fall into this scenario you paint of Test Centers. There are very good ones and they give actual options for women. Pregnancy does not have to be either have the baby or kill it.....adoption can also be an option, which abortion centers do not share.

 

[Sean]

JulyNazi is a counsellor? Holy fuck, I weep for America.

 

[renard_ruse]

"Abortion" counselors should NOT be "neutral." They should promote and encourage life choice.

What the hell is wrong with you Rory?

 

[renard_ruse]

I'm going to send a donation to some crisis pregnancy centers today. Thanks for the suggestion, Rory.

 

[pointless]

i don't think they take beer cans, dude.