They've been around for ages, but they've gotten slicker at marketing themselves, and now they have college health services pimping for them as well. Calling themselves "crisis pregnancy" or "pregnancy resource" centers, they are sham clinics that pretend to offer comprehensive reproductive health services, but really exist only to try to shame and scare women out of having abortions. And far from being protected from them, women in college are being sent to them by a source they ought to be able to trust: their university health services centers.
According to a new study from the Feminist Majority Foundation (and reported online by Ms. magazine's newswire), nearly half of the university and college health centers surveyed routinely referred college women to these centers, rather than to reputable clinics or hospitals. Once there, women facing unexpected (and often unwanted) pregnancies find this kind of treatment:
...many of these centers attempt to coerce and intimidate
women out of considering abortion as an option, and prevent women from
receiving neutral and comprehensive medical advice. They are typically
run by anti-abortion volunteers who are not licensed medical
professionals. Crisis pregnancy centers also often spread false
information, such as the disproved and discredited claims that
abortions increase the risk of breast cancer and frequently cause
mental trauma.
The study looked at nearly 400 college health services, which together serve around 34% of the nation's student population.
Even creepier, these centers are now reaching out to students directly on Facebook and MySpace, advertising their fake services and advocating for inclusion on referral lists given by colleges. Funny how these groups, which claim to be protecting the innocent unborn, have no problem at all deceiving and preying upon the most innocent and naive among those of us who have already been born.
Related: Last Gasp of a Dying Patriarchy
