My concern is that many women probably think they can find the "complete, accurate information and compassionate peer-counseling" that A Woman’s Concern promises, when in fact this crisis pregnancy center (CPC) uses lies and deceitful tactics to convince women not to get an abortion. CPCs have already been written about by other blogs a lot (Feministing, Choice USA, RH Reality Check...), but I wanted to do my own, thorough analysis on a CPC. I chose A Woman’s Concern because the anti-choice group on my campus is affiliated with it, and I previously tried to expose their tactics, in what little way I could, through my college newspaper.
I could pretty much go paragraph by paragraph, if not sentence by sentence, detailing what is an exaggeration, a trick, or an outright lie. That would be a little too tedious, so I will instead focus on some of the information they provide on abortion, emergency contraception, and (premarital) sex.
Abortion
What they say:
Speaking in decidedly un-medical sounding terminology, they summarize the different types of abortion provided. By using terms like "steel knife," "scraped away", "tear away," and "pliers-like instrument," abortion is described less as a medical procedure than as something done almost violently, with home tools. The somewhat graphic description of dilation and extraction, "commonly referred to as partial-birth abortion" is provided.
In a "Health and Safety Checklist," they ask women to not have an abortion because it might be miscarried anyway; warn against clinics that only want to profit from their abortions and operate "‘assembly line’ style"; relay the dangers of an abortion before the eighth week of pregnancy, while saying the fetus can feel pain after eight weeks; and list more possible consequences, including ectopic pregnancy and breast cancer. They also use the classic pro-life tactic of humanizing the fetus, in order to equate abortion with murder: "sex was determined weeks ago at the time of conception: you have a boy or a girl!"
The facts:
In supposedly looking out for women’s safety, A Woman’s Concern actually points out their own flaws such as that they are not medically licensed and they don’t provide all of a woman’s options or comprehensive, factual information. They say it perfectly themselves: "You cannot make a free choice or a healthy choice if you are uninformed."
For my facts, I mostly use as a reference Planned Parenthood. There you will find detailed explanations of what happens before, during, and after an abortion, using accurate and unbiased language. They describe abortion as a medical procedure in a way not intended to inspire fear, as A Woman’s Concern does. PP also excludes a description of dilation and extraction, which is only performed "after 24 weeks of pregnancy...only for serious health reasons." By describing it on their website, A Woman’s Concern leads women to believe that they are likely to undergo this procedure, even though it is used so rarely (only in .17% of all abortions). And using the term "partial-birth abortion," created for political anti-choice means, in order to make the procedure sound more brutal, more like killing. However, the term is not medically recognized (a running them with CPCs).
The "Health and Safety Checklist" is more like a "How Many Ways Can We Scare Vulnerable Women? Checklist." Not every doctor is great; some tend to give more personal care than others. It is completely irresponsible to warn against "assembly line" style abortion providers. Entirely disproven are claims that having an abortion increases a woman’s chances of ectopic pregnancy or breast cancer later in life. The question of when a fetus can feel pain is still widely debated and unknown. There is absolutely no consensus that one can experience pain at eight weeks; estimates fall more around the third trimester.
All medical procedures are "unnatural," i.e. they don’t occur in nature. So why point that out, or any of the other statements on A Woman’s Concern’s website, other than to scare?
Emergency Contraception
Or as they call it, the Morning After Pill. While this is a common nickname for EC, the reason I object to A Woman’s Concern using this term exclusively is because, by leaving out the word "contraception," they allow themselves to then spew another lie: that EC is an "early abortion."
Using more exaggeration, they warn against the lack of long term studies on the safety of EC. However, PP easily clarifies this seemingly casual, but subtly deceptive (by not providing comprehensive information) statement: "Millions of women have used emergency contraception. It has been used for more than 30 years. There have been no reports of serious complications." Ectopic pregnancy is again said to be more likely for someone who uses EC; and again this has been proven untrue.
What I find scary is that they try to explain how women only have a short window of ovulation time to get pregnant, so if you’re not ovulating, you shouldn’t bother with EC. The problem with this is that it is difficult for a woman to know exactly when they are ovulating. Women shouldn’t be discouraged with taking the precaution of using EC, which can prevent unwanted pregnancy.
The wost line of the whole page is the final line: "real prevention is something one does before the fact, not after the act." In so few words, they have both judged a woman for having unprotected sex (even though EC is useful for when condoms break or a woman is raped) and contradicted their own abstinence-only-until-marriage agenda by even mentioning prevention.
(Premarital) Sex
After a description of the dangers of "safer sex" and oral sex, which involves heavy weight on inefficacy and the importance of abstinence until marriage, A Woman’s Concern jumps into proving marrying the first man you like, without having sex with him until after the vows, is the best (if not only) good choice.
They warn against having sex at an early age (which to them seems to be any age pre-marriage), saying "breaking up can cause serious emotional pain including anxiety, heartache, guilt, and regret." But not happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment in knowing you have experience something good and worthwhile, even if it wasn’t forever? Going into a relationship means you might break up, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try (or that breaking up isn’t a good thing). They also imply that by waiting to have sex until marriage will protect you from STDs, unplanned pregnancy, and a failed relationship. However, married people can have STDs, just because you’re married doesn’t mean you want to have children, and as many as half of all marriages end in divorce.
My Concern
One of my biggest concerns is that of abstinence-only education. The federal government has spent more than a billion dollars on an educational program that just doesn’t work. Not only that, but proponents of abstinence-only education fail to recognize the fact that since some people are going to have sex no matter what you try to teach them, they should be informed on how to protect themselves. So not only are many children and young adults being denied helpful and factual information from their schools, but organizations like A Woman’s Concern lure vulnerable women in order to push a religious agenda and provide more lies. Women deserve to make an informed choice about their sexuality, their lives, their bodies.
How do we stop CPCs from lying to women? Inform yourself. You’ve already started, by reading this article. Read more. Investigate any clinics or other organizations that you or someone you know plans to go to; make sure they are providing comprehensive, nonjudgmental information and guidance. Support organizations that fight for comprehensive services and choice, such as Planned Parenthood. Also support state and federal initiatives to hold CPCs responsible. We need to take the initiative so that ourselves, our families, and everyone else can trust that when looking for support during pregnancy, we will be given the proper care.