Cracking Down on Crisis Pregnancy CentersCracking Down on Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Back in Septmeber, I ventured into two of the many crisis pregnancy centers in Oregon, pretending to be pregnant and seeing what kind of advice the Christian-backed centers (which don't refer for abortion or birth control) would give me. The volunteer counselors who talked to me about my options were supportive and compassionate, but the Focus on the Family pamphlets they gave me to read at home were full of misinformation and strident stories against abortion.

Planned Parenthood is working on a statewide campaign to make crisis pregnancy centers abide by the same regulations as health centers. That's exactly the kind of regulation legislators in New York announced this week that they will push. The call for regulations in that state comes on the heels of a year-long NARAL investigation of NYC's 16 crisis pregnancy centers that found their staff members distributed medically inaccurate information and tried their hardest to talk women out of having one, even showing women graphic images and telling them, “God will never forgive you.”

No Oregon politician has so far come forward to champion regulating crisis pregnancy centers in this state, but Rep Earl Blumenauer is co-sponsoring a bill that would regulate them on a national level, the subtly named "Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act."

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