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Below are some true stories we've received from women who have been to Crisis Pregnancy Centers. The center's name and location has been provided when available.
If you have a story to share, please send it via our Contact Us page. Please include your first name and the location (city/state will be fine) of the CPC you visited. Feel free to use a fake name if you prefer.
Harassment and Breach of Confidentiality
While I love my son dearly, I can’t pretend the way he came
into the world was anything close to ideal. I was eighteen years old, a first-semester student at Grand Valley State
University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I
became pregnant by my fiancé (now my husband) sometime in August of that year
and found out just before Halloween. Once my pregnancy test from the pharmacy turned blue, I remembered
seeing a place called Pregnancy Resource Center in town and figured that would
be a good place to start. I called the
number in the phone book to make an appointment. I noticed some strange things about the
receptionist’s language, but figured that must have been typical of all family
planning clinics for security purposes. I made an appointment for the following day.
I don’t know what I was planning to do once I walked through
the doors of the Resource Center. I
hadn’t considered abortion explicitly, but wanted to know more. Like so many confused young women who get
pregnant by accident, I just wanted to hear what my options were. That’s what the Resource Center
promised. What I got was entirely
different. While awaiting my results of the
same EPT test I’d already taken (the kind that takes like 2 minutes), I was
forced to watch these videos about “fetal pain” and saw a sensationalized
ultrasound that featured a fetus “retreating” from the abortion tools. The video also showed a lot of pictures of “aborted
fetuses” which I thought was weird because I’d seen my older sister’s 20 week
ultrasound and it hadn’t looked like this video at all.
The staff member eventually walked in and told me the test
was positive. I said, “Does that mean I’m
pregnant?” She said, “Your test was
positive.” She handed me a pamphlet
about adoption. I didn’t know what to
think. I asked her about abortion and
she told me that if I murdered my baby I would go to hell. She said I would probably get breast cancer
or commit suicide, or be infertile. It
didn’t seem right. I started to
leave. The woman told me that if I left, she’d call my parents and tell
them I was going to murder their grandbaby. I started to get sick. She
threatened to call me at home, to come to my house, and to tell all my friends
I was pregnant if I didn’t sign up. I
finally ran for it. Unfortunately they
had my phone number and address. They
called my dorm roommate and somehow got her to give them my parent’s phone
number. Fortunately, I had gotten to my
parents first and told them everything. They
hired a lawyer and got the Resource Center to stop harassing me.
I eventually did go to a Planned Parenthood and, through
talking to staff there, learned all about abortion, adoption, and
parenting. With the support of my
parents and my fiancé, as well as the wonderful people at the Planned Parenthood,
I decided to keep the baby. I think
maybe I was going to anyway, not that I have anything against abortion. It just wasn’t for me at that time. And I got amazing pre-natal care with a midwife
that the Planned Parenthood referred me to.
Sandra
Grand Rapids, MI
I wasn't fooled one bit by the CPC and their bad
information, but I was fooled by their ads. When I went to a CPC I
thought it was an abortion clinic. The closest place that advertised
itself as an abortion clinic was about 20 miles away so I went to this
other place, which turned out to be the CPC that advertised itself to
sound like the real deal. When I actually went to get the abortion at
the real clinic I recognized some of the parking lot protesters as the
same women I'd spoken with at the CPC. They began screaming my full
name as my boyfriend and I walked from the parking lot to the clinic
door, then chanting "Caroline [Last Name], Let Your Baby Live!"
Eventually all the protesters were screaming that and I could still
hear them as I went back into the main clinic area from the waiting
room. It was horrible. I felt really violated.
Caroline
Loveland, CO
When my period was late, I went to a place called "Problem
Pregnancy Center" that advertised free pregnancy tests. When I was waiting I was in a small room
watching bloody and disgusting videos about abortion. After the video they told me I was
pregnant. I got an ultrasound there
too. They said I was 12 weeks
along. They said I was too far along to
have a legal abortion in my state. I
knew this was wrong and realized I wasn’t in the right place. I screamed at the staff and left in a huff,
saying I was going to have an abortion somewhere else. Whoops. I didn’t mean to do that, it was definitely a mistake. But I was so angry that they were lying! A few days later, my mom got an anonymous
phone call that said I’d killed her grandbaby. I was infuriated and humiliated. Fortunately my mom was understanding and said she would have done the same
thing but wishes I had talked to her first because she knew of a good clinic
and I wouldn’t have ended up in this terrible place. I felt so happy and relieved. Seven months later, I got a card in the
mail. It said, “Congratulations on Your
New Baby!" but it was splattered with red paint or ink. Every year after that, I’d get a Happy
Birthday card made for children, except they’re all splattered with red
paint. We couldn’t get them to stop legally because
there was no proof the Crisis Center was sending them. I
finally stopped receiving the cards when I moved out of the state and didn’t
leave behind a forwarding address.
This place was awful. I knew instantly that they didn’t want to help me but to torment
me. And after I had the abortion, I was
really fine. But once I started getting
those cards, I wasn’t. All that guilt
they said I would have if I had an abortion came true, but only because they
created it. I would have been fine,
honestly. I had no moral opposition to
abortion, but they put that into my head and it still to this day haunts
me. It’s like they create guilt and
unhappiness in order to prove that you’ll be guilty and depressed.
Lisa
St.Paul, MN
Women, beware going to this clinic. By all appearances
it seems friendly, but the judgment is laid on thick here. Before I
even took a pregnancy test at the clinic the "nurse" asked me
inappropriate questions like 'whose the babies father?' then laughed
the question off as if she made the mistake to ask it. The "nurse" gave
me misinformation on abortion, told be I could not obtain one in the
early first trimester, which is a lie. Without my consent she force me
to watch a video which laid on guilt for those open to the option of
abortion. When the test came back positive the "nurse" was incredibly
flippant and judgmental. I couldn't believe it! The pamphlets she gave
me were filled with gross misinformation and scare tactics. Women,
avoid this fake clinic!
Jewell
Grand Forks, ND
Deception and Misinformation
I had a condom break during sex and I knew I needed to get
PlanB. At this time it was not available
over the counter, so I had to find a clinic. I went to one called “Women’s Center of Chicago” which advertised family
planning stuff in their phone book ad. When I got there, a woman in a white lab coat told me there was a 48
hour waiting period on PlanB. This
didn’t seem right to me but I was confused and disparate so I went along with
it. I came back two days later and was
told that it was too late to take PlanB. They said I might already be pregnant and PlanB could harm the
baby. So they gave me a pregnancy
test. While I was waiting on my results,
I was put in a room and made to watch a graphic video about abortion. I
thought I was going to be sick. After
the video the woman told me I wasn’t pregnant. She handed me all this stuff about abstinence. I left nearly in tears. It wasn’t until recently that I learned I had
gone to a “Crisis Center” and that there was neither a 48 hour waiting period
on PlanB nor was anyone in the place a doctor. I feel happy that I wasn’t pregnant but I am angry because if I had been
pregnant it would have been their fault for making me wait for the PlanB.
Tyra
Chicago, IL
In 1993 I was fairly certain that I had become pregnant after a
non-consensual sexual encounter (that part becomes important later). I
remember passing a pregnancy center to and from work on High Street in
Columbus, OH and decided one day that I would stop in and confirm my
suspicion. The women were older and seemed nice enough when I walked
in. There were photo's of babies and children's magazines throughout
but it did not strike me as odd; probably because I had an eighth month
old son at home and was used to seeing these things in a doctors
office. When I became uncomfortable and fairly certain that something
was not right was when one of these women continued to ask me where the
"father" was. I reluctantly explained that I had not wanted to have
sex but that it was forced upon me by the father of my eighth month old
son (I completely broke down since this was the first time that I had
said it aloud). I was afraid they would want me to report the rape and
I was scared for my life at that point and not planning on going to the
authorities. But they didn't even mention it; of course, I was
thankful at the time. When my test came back positive and I asked to
schedule an abortion they asked me, "What about the father... doesn't he
have a say? This baby is his too." I felt so sick. I couldn't
believe they would say that... the father? The father
was a rapist. I just grabbed my things and ran out while they
attempted to stop me and they continued to ask how I could "kill
someone's baby". I remember I was so angry that I wrote them a letter a
few months after I terminated my pregnancy thanking them for helping me
make that choice and dropped it by on my way out of town. Fifteen
years later and I still smile at that part.
Kelly
Columbus, OH
The Greensboro Pregnancy Care Center in Greensboro, NC routinely schedules clients five to seven days after they first call, claiming that's their "first available" appointment. This week in delay could be the difference between an easy, relatively inexpensive abortion procedure and a more expensive, more invasive one. One of our volunteers called the CPC for a visit to learn more about the "morning after pill" or emergency contraception, a backup method of birth control that is effective if taken 1-3 days after unprotected intercourse. The CPC staff told her they had no available appointments for another four days, conveniently delaying her past the time frame where it would be effective. The staffer never said they did not carry the medication.
Lauren
Greensboro, NC
In 2002 I missed my period. At the time I was a college junior and
very busy with a double-major, so it didn't occur to me for a while
that I might be pregnant. But when I realized how long it had been
since I'd had a period I freaked out and went to the health center for
a pregnancy test. The nurse told me it was positive and gave me a list
of resources around town since I went to a small college that didn't
have any huge women's health services. One place in particular I had
seen advertised in our college newspaper, it was called Pregnancy
Resource Center. They advertised free services so I figured I'd start
there. Being new to the battleground that is reproductive health, I
had no idea what kind of place it was. It seemed nice and the staff
was friendly when I came in for my appointment. They said they'd have
to confirm my pregnancy first. I peed on a store-bought pregnancy test
and was led into a room for counseling. I stated bluntly that I didn't
want to have a baby because I was in college, wasn't in a relationship,
and honestly never wanted kids. The woman immediately shifted gears
and laid into me, calling me selfish, saying I was irresponsible for
having sex outside of marriage, and that I was lying to myself about
not wanting kids because as a woman it was my destiny. She said if I
"killed my baby," I'd never be able to fulfill that destiny and would be depressed forever. I was so confused because I still
thought this was a medical facility that counseled people. But before
I could ask any questions, a woman entered and said I wasn't pregnant.
I told her I was pretty sure I was because I'd been to my college
health center and they had given me a "real lab test". The woman said
they "ran the test several times" (which seems impossible considering
it was just an EPT test) and that the test at the health center was
probably a false positive. While I should have been more inquisitive,
I was just happy to receive the news that I was not pregnant. About a
month passed and I still didn't have a period. I was gaining weight
and my breasts were tender. I went back to the health center and they
referred me to a local ob/gyn who did an ultrasound and told me I was
about 15 weeks pregnant!!! I was so angry. The doctor told me that
I'd visited a "CPC" and that they often lie to women to delay their
decision making, possibly until it's too late for an abortion.
Fortunately, this doctor's office had an options counselor who
referred me to a clinic where I was able to get a surgical abortion,
but it was far more expensive and invasive than it would have been had
I known earlier.
Terri
Tulsa, OK
Emotional Manipulation
I moved to Huntsville Texas to attend college and during my sophomore
year, I realized I was late. It wasn't unusual for me to be a few days
to a week late but I realized I was nearly a month late. I began to
get really worried and looked in the phone book for a cheap place to
have a pregnancy test (the campus clinic charged around $15, the local
Planned Parenthood charged $20, and I had pocket change only, if that
much). I saw an advertisement that offered free pregnancy tests and
decided to go there first.
I was 19 and had no real knowledge of how and why so called "crisis
pregnancy centers" operated. I walked in to their small storefront and
the very young and very pregnant woman behind the desk asked me who I
was and why I was there. I told her I was there for a free pregnancy
test and she gave me a questionnaire to fill out. The paper asked me
what I would do if my test was positive and I marked the box for
abortion. I have always been prochoice and I wasn't about to sacrifice
everything I had worked so hard for because of an accident. I was the
first person in my entire family to go to college and there was no way
I was giving that up.
I was called back by a middle-aged woman wearing a white lab coat over
a track suit and taken to a small bathroom to give a urine specimen. I handed her the specimen cup which she sat beside an open box for a
generic, over-the-counter test. Then I was shown into a room and asked
to wait for my results. The walls of the room held fetal development
posters normally seen in doctor's offices and also framed Anne Geddes
portraits.
I was kept waiting for over half an hour until finally, the same woman
in the lab coat entered the room and sat on the sofa beside me. She
asked me how I was doing and I told her that I was nervous and really
wanted to know my test results.
She asked me what I would do if the results were positive and I told
her I would seek an abortion. She then told me that the baby didn't
ask to be created and that I was already a mother with a responsibility
to protect it. I told her that nothing was going to come in between me
and my education, not floods, pestilence, pregnancy, or even hell
itself.
She asked me what my relationship was like with God and whether I
thought I'd be "forgiven" if I killed a baby. She also asked about
the level of support I could expect to receive from my parents and
whether they would like it if I killed their grandchild.
After another half an hour trying to convince me that my beliefs and
feelings toward an unintended pregnancy at that time in my life were
all wrong, I finally demanded the results of my test.
She told me my test was negative but that if I wouldn't remain
abstinent (I told her I wouldn't and I was engaged to the man I would
marry after graduating), I would be pregnant sooner rather than later
and would just be facing the decision at that time. I told her the
next time I would somehow come up with the money for my own
over-the-counter test and she would never have the opportunity to push
her opinions onto me.
I left quite angry and told everyone I knew not to go there. I never
did become unintentionally pregnant, I graduated, married, started a
career, and volunteer for non-profit health groups devoted to defending
reproductive rights. I probably would have never realized how perilous
my own rights are had it not been for that experience.
Testimonial from Former CPC Volunteer
I used to work in a CPC. My "sidewalk counseling" escapades in front
of the EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville brought me to the idea
that the only reason women choose abortion is because they don't think
they have any other option. I began working at the CPC first as a
volunteer (30 or more hours a week) then as a modestly paid staff
member. Even before I began to change my mind about abortion rights, I
began to question the way the CPC operated. Whether or not it was
truly "Christ-like" or whatever. See, the way we worked (and many
other CPCs work as well, I now know) was to begin with any new client
by giving her a pregnancy test then counseling her to figure out how
"abortion vulnerable" she was, like on a scale from 1 to 10. "Tens"
were very abortion vulnerable. "Ones" were not at all. "Tens" were
shown graphic videos and given information about abortion and breast cancer and also depression. "Ones" were given a hand to hold and offered a
chance to volunteer inside the CPC to counsel other women to make the
same choice, and in return were given some diapers, formula, and
second-hand baby clothes. If any of the "tens" were convinced not to have
an abortion (a few actually did become convinced to "choose life" as we called it) they were given baby furniture, brand new clothes, diapers, and in rare
cases financial assistance with prenatal care! It seemed so
backwards. These women who had come in just wanting to just have an
abortion and be done with
it, but they
were getting what women who were struggling to make their choices
should have had. I had many conversations with God about this, and with
each one I became more convinced that what I was doing was not His
work at all.
No Choice
Let me start by saying I am so happy to see your group doing what
you're doing. I think your testimonials page needs my story. When I
found myself pregnant at 19, I didn't know exactly what I wanted,
except that I did not want to have an abortion. That being said, I
sought help at an agency I knew did not perform abortions but that
advertised its support of women in unplanned pregnancies. I now know
it was what you would call a crisis pregnancy center. They were
totally sweet while they confirmed my pregnancy with an EPT and
ultrasound, and I felt like there was compassion for me and my future
child. I told them straight up I did not want to have an abortion, and
they told me that was the correct choice. Then they handed me a stack
of forms to fill out. "For what?" I wondered, but was so happy to be
in the hands of kind women that I did not ask questions. It wasn't
until I was halfway through the first page when I realized these were
legal forms for adoption! "Oh, no I don't want to put my baby up for
adoption," I told the volunteer. The woman's tone changed instantly.
"Well what do you think is going to happen?" she snapped at me. "Do
you think you're just going to have a baby out of wedlock and live
happily ever after?" "Well no," I said, "but I thought with your
help..." And she cut me off: "We're here to help, but you have to know
what is the right thing to do. You cannot have a baby out of wedlock.
The child's life will be ruined. If you truly love him, you will make
the right decision for you both." I couldn't believe it! Here was an
organization that claimed to want to help me and my baby, but they were
making all my decisions for me. I threw the forms on the ground and
left. I did find a real women's health clinic nearby that referred me
to a program that helped young women like me get affordable prenatal
and even helped me figure out how to parent and continue my college
education. My daughter and I owe everything to them!!
Gina
Atlanta, GA
I am a bisexual woman who in 2004 became pregnant by an ex-boyfriend. By the time I realized I was pregnant, I was already seeing my
now partner Sam (a woman) and things were going really well. Sam told
me she would support me in whatever decision I made with the pregnancy,
and after a few long talks we decided to go for it: Motherhood!! We decided to visit the CPC, unaware
of their underlying
agenda. We knew they did not perform abortions, but we also knew they
offered assistance to women trying to make ends meet while planning for
a baby. It seemed like the place for us.
The women at the CPC were so sweet. They seemed to relish the fact
that I was not considering abortion and told me I was “doing the right
thing.” After confirming my pregnancy, I was rejoined with Sam and the
staff began talking about all the wonderful aspects of adoption. When I told them I wanted to raise my
child myself, their tone changed. “Do you realize the high rate of
poverty among single mothers?” they asked me.
It was at this point Sam entered the conversation, as I was speechless. “I’m here for Christa,” she told them. “This child will be raised by the two of us in a loving
home.” The staffer told Sam that was all well and good, but that children
“need” to live with two parents who love one another, romantically.
The best options, they said, were either for me to marry “the father”
or give the baby up for adoption.
What I did next completely changed the conversation. I told the woman
that first of all I was raised by a single mother who provided an ideal
home for me to grow up in, and secondly Sam was my lover. The woman
said nothing at first. Then, she slid down from her chair onto her
knees and invited us to do the same. Now, I have been a person of
faith my whole life, so I figured this woman was going to lead us in a
prayer blessing our commitment to raising a child. How silly of me.
The things that came out of this woman’s mouth! She was kneeling
there, right across from us, begging Jesus to enter our hearts and
“cure” what “evil” lay within us. She even asked that my “illness” not
be transferred to the “child” growing inside of me! Now I am a
respectful woman, but my lifetime of learning not to interrupt a person
in prayer simply did not apply to the woman whom I saw as basically
crazy. I grabbed Sam’s hand and pulled her out the door with me.
Raising our daughter has not been without challenges, but I am blessed
to have had Sam and my parents to help me through young motherhood. My
daughter gives Sam and me joy, she brought us closer together, and
together we make up a loving family. I just wish the CPC staff could understand that. It would be so good for so many children.
Christa
Macon, GA
"Earn While You Learn"
I received help from a crisis pregnancy center during my first pregnancy. I had chosen life before I went to the center but I needed some help. After confirming my pregnancy I said I needed help with supplies. They gave me a list of classes I had to go to to get baby stuff. I was not really religious but the only ones that fit my school schedule were Bible classes. So I went to those every week during my second and third trimester and earned some "credits" to get a few bags of diapers and some formula. That helped a little, but not a whole lot, as any mom can tell you, diapers go faster than you think! After my daughter was born I went back to the CPC and said I needed more help. They told me I'd have to call the director because I didn't qualify anymore since I wasn't pregnant anymore. I called the director four or five times in the next two weeks and my messages were never returned. I felt totally slighted by this place. Their "earning" system was biased towards the women they had already talked out of abortion and they had us competing with one another for the best new things coming in. I also couldn't go to any of the classes that earned the most "points" because I had a job and was in school. I'd say the total amount of time the CPC helped me was my daughter's first two weeks after being born, and after that I got nothing.
Danielle
Elyria, OH
Post Abortion Support
I was a little surprised when I experienced some emotional trouble
following my abortion. I had no moral opposition to the procedure had
always thought of myself as a strong-willed champion of women’s rights.
Maybe it was going through the process more or less on my own that was
the main mistake. The emotional trouble was nothing serious you
understand; just a few feelings of loss that made me want to talk with
someone. I had seen ads in my college newspaper about post-abortion
support services. The group seemed cool and approachable enough. They
adopted language that mirrored terms used in women’s rights movements:
“empowerment,” “freedom,” etc. Best of all for this poor college
student, it was free. So I went to talk to someone.
The first thing I noticed about the place was how the language changed
almost immediately. The groovy ads with words like “empowerment” were
replaced by wall posters picturing grief-stricken women and words like
“forgiveness.” I wondered if I was in the right place! But I checked
my address, and I was. So I began my session. I told the counselor
straight up that I wasn’t looking for anything like “forgiveness” as
the majority of their posters and pamphlets described. I was just
looking for someone to talk to. She said we’d get to that but first I
needed to fill out some forms.
The forms were no better. They used language like “kill” and “baby”
where I would have used “terminate,” “abort,” and “fetus.” “Describe
how you felt when you first realized you’d killed your baby?” “How
angry are you at yourself?” And worst of all, “How has this affected
your relationship with God?” Oh man. I was in the wrong place, but I
answered the questions as best I could. I said I didn’t feel I’d
killed a baby, that I wasn’t angry at myself, and that my God was a
forgiving God and that I didn’t want to get into any sort of religious
conversation today. I put under “other comments” that I really just
wanted a place to vent about my experience and get it all out there so
I could feel better. This was immediately taken as denial. They said
I was obviously in serious distress, and that I needed serious healing.
I felt like they were trying to make me guilty, like they were trying
to throw fire and brimstone at me instead of helping me. I never went
back.
I spoke with a dear friend of mine that night about my experience. She
was a graduate student studying psychology and wanted me to tell her
everything that happened at this place, a place she had pin-pointed
long ago as a CPC. She asked if any of the counselors introduced
themselves as doctors. I told her none had even introduced themselves.
She told me the language they used was a problem, that a good
counselor should have adopted the language I was using to describe my
experience (“fetus” and “abortion” instead of “baby” and “murder”), and
she told me about Exhale, the pro-woman after-abortion hotline. I
called the hotline the next day and spoke with someone for about an
hour and a half. That was all it took! I told my story, how I was
feeling, and the woman on the other end of the line listened and let me
speak. I felt so much better.
Jeanette
Austin, TX
Note: The Exhale After-Abortion Talkline can be reached at
www.4exhale.org or by calling 1-866-439–4253.
Mobile Pregnancy Units
I had an appointment at my local Planned Parenthood clinic
to get birth control and a pap test. When I got there, there was a large RV covering the entrance to the
building. It had a huge sign in the
window that said “New Clients Register Here.” So I went in. All the paper work
said “PP” on it in a similar style as Planned Parenthood uses. I gave all my information, and said I was
visiting to get my annual exam and get a prescription for the Pill. I was led into the back of the RV behind a
curtain and told to watch a brief video while I waited. The video talked about how oral contraception
can make women infertile and aren’t but 80% effective. It also said that if a woman gets pregnant
while taking the Pill, the Pill will “kill the baby.” While I was in there, several of the staff
from the real clinic (I'm guessing) came out and started beating on the window and screaming
things like, “That’s not the clinic! You’re
in the wrong place!” I tried to leave
but the woman who had signed me in didn’t want to let me leave until the video
was over. But I pushed past her and went
into the clinic. They told me almost all new clients go there first and
get bad information, and they usually try to watch for people going in so they can come out and yell into the RV.
The next weekend, my mom called me. She
said she'd gotten a call from some sort of family planning service
telling her that I was sexually active and seeking birth control. I was
25 years old at the time!! To this day I have no idea how they got my
mom's number.
Sara
Sarasota, FL
Lectures and Inappropriate Conduct
I went to a "crisis pregnancy center" in Charlottesville,
VA when I was 19 years old (7 years ago now). I will never forget that terrible experience. Thankfully I was not pregnant, but while I
waited for the results of the test - and they made me wait extra long - a woman
asked me questions about my sexual partner and made me answer questions about
what I would do if I were pregnant, and since I wasn't really sure and since my
partner and I were not planning on having kids, did I really think it was a
good idea for us to be having sexual relations?, etc, etc. She asked me
about my religious upbringing and my current practice and on and on, all while I
was waiting for the results of a pregnancy test that I could have bought one over
the counter for 10 or 15 bucks. It was a terrible experience. Really
wretched. I was nervous enough at that time and the conversations they
were trying to engage me in were totally inappropriate.
Lucy
Charlottesville, VA
Stories from Partners, Friends, and Family Members
Regarding The Women's Center in Evergreen Park, IL
I took my girlfriend here to get a pregnancy test which should
have taken a few minutes, but instead she was taken behind a closed
door and interrogated by some hag who attempted to not only make her
feel guilty for being pregnant, but to tell her that she's an evil
person for considering abortion. I finally barged into the room only to see her in the corner crying with the wicked witch screaming that she would go to hell. Needless
to say, I grabbed my girlfriend and left as quickly as possible. Stay
away from this place, unless you want to be treated horribly.
"J"
Evergreen Park, IL
This was about ten years ago but I still think about it to this day. A close friend of mine tried to hide her pregnancy for a
long time, as if it would just go away. I finally convinced her to see someone. She went to a place called CareNet, a place we had seen advertisements
for in a local paper. It promised a free
pregnancy test, sonograms, and reproductive option counseling. She was wooden
by the time she went and was most likely completely separated from her
pregnancy. So despite the propaganda
videos, the pamphlets, and pressure from the center's staff, she decided she
wanted to have an abortion. They told her that there was a week-long waiting
period that she had to go through to be sure she really wanted it. She went back a week later still set on
having the procedure. The receptionist said, “I’m sorry, I seem to have lost
record of your appointment. Come back in
four days when the doctor will be here next.” When she went back in four days, they told
her the doctor was sick. I told her it
seemed sketchy and that she should go to a Planned Parenthood clinic. The nearest one was 45 miles away. Because of her work schedule, she was only
able to go five days after that. When
she arrived at the clinic they told her she was 17 weeks along. In our state you can only have an abortion up
to 16 weeks unless it’s an emergency. I
was so upset. She was forced to carry to
term and give the baby up for adoption. Giving up the baby made her really
depressed. She was alienated from her
social circles and the people around town because she was young and
unmarried. She eventually got fired from
her job because of her excessive absences. She went into major debt paying her own healthcare bills because she
didn’t have insurance anymore. To this day she lives
with unimaginable guilt for not addressing her pregnancy sooner, for going to a
fake clinic, and most of all for giving her baby up for adoption.
Susan
Bedford, IN
From Advocates
I used to counsel women in an abortion clinic that was located near a
CPC. I saw more than a handful of women who had visited the CPC purely
by accident. Many others visited the CPC for the free ultrasound
(which was not a medical ultrasound, meaning our clinic could not
legally accept it to fill the pre-abortion ultrasound requirement). At
the CPC, women had told the "counselors" that they were getting the
free ultrasound for their procedures at the clinic. These women were
terrified of going through with the abortion due to the things they
learned at the CPC. Women asked me all sorts of questions: What if I
bleed to death? What if I can never have children? Is there really a
risk of breast cancer? Depression? The thing was, they still were
getting the abortion despite what they'd been told. But they were
terrified of what would happen to them. In essence I think the CPC did
its job: even though the women went ahead with the abortion, they were
made to feel awful about their decision and went through Hell just to
access their legal right to an abortion.
"C"
Louisville, KY
While I did not personally visit a CPC, years ago when I was employed
by an abortion clinic (operated independently of Planned Parenthood),
periodically employees/volunteers (I was never sure of their status.
Only saw their name tags, and some of the nurses would recognize them)
would let themselves into our waiting room.
Once there, they would wait until they found a specific person they were
looking for. They always had names and recognized the patients. Then
they would separate the poor girl (often a teenager with her mother)
from the other patients, often from her support group that came with
her, and explain what a 'moral sin' she was committing. A number of
times, our security (always an off-duty police officer) had to evict
these people from the premises.
They insisted they were not violating the law requiring them to be a
certain number of feet from the property because they were not
protesting. We told them they were harassing and threatened lawsuits.
Eventually they ceased, but this happened a number of times in the late
90s in Columbus, Georgia.
"B"
Columbus, GA
"Open Arms" is a
radical anti-choice organization that has operated in Columbia, MO for about 15
years. I don't know the exact address; it is located on North
Providence very close to our Planned Parenthood clinic. I practiced family
medicine in Columbia for 22 years and would occasionally have patients who told
me about the tactics used by the Open Arms staff to deter women from having
their pregnancies terminated - the usual scare tactics and distortions and
outright lies about breast cancer, emotional problems, sterility, etc.
There is a heavy religious content to their propaganda. One woman
told me that she was told by someone at Open Arms that she would "burn in hell
for all eternity" if she had an abortion. Several years ago when the state
legislature was considering cutbacks of Medicaid (which were unfortunately made)
that would stop coverage for over 100,000 people, I called Open Arms to see if
they were opposing this, reasoning that pregnant women would be more likely to
choose abortion if they had no medical insurance. Interestingly, the
person I talked to knew nothing about the proposed cutbacks, despite extensive
media coverage and debate. The person then indicated that she didn't care
about the cutbacks because they would not affect pregnancy decisions. She
also indicated that the organization was focusing on getting the legislature to
pass a law making it a crime for anyone to help a minor travel to another state
for an abortion. She said that this would greatly reduce abortions (in
reality such events were very rare.). This is definitely an organization
that should be on your radar screen; they do a lot of
damage.
"R"
Columbia, MO
I am a birth doula and certified childbirth educator in North Carolina. While I disagree with their mission, I believed that the local CPC might help hook some women up with local free or low-cost doulas in the area. At the very least, I felt like their clients should have the opportunity to contact us, discuss their wishes for their upcoming birth, become educated, etc. The woman I spoke to at the CPC said they didn't allow "outsiders" to advertise their products or services at their center, even if we were offering them for free. She said that they only accept that sort of thing from members of the church they're apparently affiliated with (nowhere was this affiliation mentioned on their website), and when I asked if any of their church members offered childbirth ed or doula care, she hung up on me. It makes me so sad that these people try to pretend to do good for pregnant women but won't even let them become educated about the process of labor and childbirth!
"L"
Raleigh, NC
There is a Crisis Center near me: CareNet Pregnancy Center of the Upper Valley,
1 Main St, West Lebanon, NH. When I was shadowing in Planned Parenthood
for a Reproductive Choices elective, a young woman (16 or 17) came in to get an
abortion. She wanted to do it medically but was just barely too far along. She
had visited CareNet previously with the incorrect impression that they gave
REAL options counseling. The delay caused by her visit and the misinformation
they gave her meant that she had to wait even longer to get her procedure and
had to do it surgically.
Emily
West Lebanon, NH |
