Last week on Full Frontal, Samantha Bee started off a segment talking about one of the country’s biggest legal scams called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). The folks at CPCs basically lure teens/young pregnant women in with “Free Pregnancy Tests!” under the guise of “being there” to help make important decisions. Services are offered, but all the while staff intentionally uses false or misleading information to trick/discourage women from making the best reproductive choices for themselves, their families and their future.
Due to a new Georgia bill that favors CPCs, Bee once again targeted state Sen. Renee Unterman. Weeks ago state Sen. Unterman helped kill the Georgia bill that would require the testing of existing rape kits, and Bee reamed Unterman. What has state Sen. Unterman done for women lately? asks Bee. Turns out the senator helped sign a bill into law that allows state money (tax dollars) to be funneled into the CPCs where fear-based tactics and falsehoods are used to keep women from choosing abortion.The Georgia lawmaker implies this is a way to counter the Planned Parenthood controversy. Samantha Bee says:
“You mean the fake controversy made up by people who have now been indicted? Woman, have you lost your fucking mind? Ok. Much like Renee Unterman, crisis pregnancy centers may look sweet and helpful, but they're really full of toxic bullshit.”
Here is the Full Frontal YouTube video Bee asks her audience to watch (followed a text excerpt):
Vicki Saporta: A crisis pregnancy center is a fake abortion clinic. They spread these lies, hoping to frighten women and to persuade them not to go ahead with obtaining the abortion that they want. They create the illusion that they're an abortion clinic by adopting names that are similar to abortion clinics. Adopting the same logos and fonts. They try to have women come in to have a free pregnancy test or a free ultrasound, and then their goal is to detain them.
Cherisse Scott: So, I ended up at a crisis pregnancy center after looking in the Yellow Pages. I chose that listing because it was the largest ad.
Saporta: They locate next to an abortion clinic, sometimes in the same building. They con women into thinking they provide the full range of reproductive health care services, when they absolutely do not.
Scott: I did feel like, when I was in the facility for the ultrasound, that I was talking to a real nurse, giving me real medical information about my body.
Saporta: Most of these fake clinics do not have licensed medical staff. Women are often given false ultrasound results to make it seem like they're much further on in their pregnancies than they really are.
Scott: They gained my trust. I thought I was somewhere to have a procedure done.
Saporta: They (CPCs) want women to believe that there are long-term negative consequences, like they won't be able to have children, like they will suffer from post-abortion stress syndrome, or that they would have an increased risk of breast cancer. They make them wait hours for the results of a pregnancy test, which are pretty instantaneous in order to make them listen to sermons and hear their propaganda and false medical information.
Scott: They got me to watch the video by telling me, we want to inform you about what an abortion is. It was a mixture of real women and animation. With the animation, they show the doctor going in with clamps to latch onto the baby's head and pull the baby out. It was the scariest Loony Toon cartoon I've ever seen in my life.
Scott: I ultimately decided to go ahead and have the baby because I didn't want to chance not ever being able to have a baby.
Scott: When it was difficult to get food stamps or when it was difficult to get his father on child support, they weren't there. My son deserved to have a situation where he didn't have to worry about his mother struggling to make the ends meet until I was able to figure it out. He deserved to be able to come into a loving situation. Not in a situation where I was confused because of a lie. I love my son, absolutely, but I'll be very honest with you. If I could do this all over again, I would have an abortion.
Sapporta: Crisis pregnancy centers are an illusion.
Scott: Crisis pregnancy centers are a complete hustle.
At the end of their testimonies, Saporta mentions there are more than twice as many fake clinics than there are legitimate abortion providers in the United States. The “hustle” is legal. CPCs use the First Amendment to trick, con, shame and hustle scared young pregnant teens/women. What makes it worse—they get the American taxpayers to pay for it. Some states are fighting back. While we need states fighting back, first we need more awareness. Thank you, Samantha Bee, for bringing more awareness. Hopefully, social media will carry the message further.
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