Crisis pregnancy centers led by anti-abortion groups in Canada routinely lie to women, according to a comprehensive report released this month by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. Crisis pregnancy centers are increasingly popular tools of the anti-choice movement, with more than 4,000 such centers in the US alone. These centers lure women in with promises of free pregnancy tests, then expose them to anti-abortion propaganda designed to pressure them into keeping their babies—or better yet, adopting them out to a more “suitable” family.
Research has repeatedly shown that abortion is among the safest medical procedures a woman can undergo. It is certainly far safer than pregnancy. But the report reveals a pattern of systematically intimidating women out of abortion and into the dangers of childbirth.
Unpacking the Lies of Anti-Choice Groups
The study looked at websites associated with 100 Canadian crisis pregnancy center (CPC). Because some centers shared the same sites, this gave researchers a survey of 166 of a total of 180 Canadian crisis pregnancy centers.
A significant majority of the centers engaged in at least one misleading tactic, such as giving false information about sex, abortion, adoption, or contraception. Many also engaged in deceptive advertising by failing to disclose their stance on abortion, suggesting that they presented women with a range of pregnancy options, or concealing their religious affiliation. Highlights of the data include:
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48% of the CPCs said that abortion has negative psychological consequences and can lead to post-abortion syndrome. Post-abortion syndrome is not a real medical diagnosis, and research suggests that being denied an abortion can have more serious psychological consequences than receiving an abortion.
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5% of the sites claimed that abortion causes breast cancer, which it does not.
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60% of sites did not disclose that they offer neither abortion nor contraception.
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Despite a clear religious bias and a failure to acknowledge scientific research, 35% of the programs offered sex education—many to public school students.
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7% claimed that contraception does not work, and 5% gave other misleading data about contraception.
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24% of the sites promoted adoption as the best solution. Though adoption can work for some parents, promoting it as a panacea is misleading, particularly on a site that claims to be concerned about the aftereffects of adoption. An avalanche of research suggests that giving a baby up for adoption can be extremely traumatic—far more so than either adoption or childbirth. This suggests these centers aren't really concerned about women's mental health at all.
How Misleading Medical Information Harms Women
Some crisis pregnancy centers continue to insist that they provide accurate information, even in the face of peer-reviewed medical studies indicating otherwise. Others argue that the ends justify the means. Abortion harms society, they say, so anti-choicers must do whatever is necessary to stop women from getting abortions.
The problem is that their tactics don't work. Women who don't have the resources to carry a pregnancy to term or who want abortions will get them anyway. When they visit a crisis pregnancy center, though, the decision may be delayed, resulting in the abortion of a later term fetus.
This sort of information can also undermine women's physical and mental health. Women who hear false information about breast cancer or fetal development may struggle more before and after their abortions. They may also be ashamed to talk about their experiences, feeding the culture of shame and silence surrounding abortion.
Why Would a Morality Movement Need to Lie?
The anti-choice movement markets itself as a voice of morality in a world where women are vicious monsters eager to kill babies. The tactics of crisis pregnancy centers undermine this claim. Any movement that has to rely on lies has little claim to moral superiority.
If abortion were the horror anti-choice zealots claim it is, they would have plenty of factual data about lives ruined, bodies scarred, and millions of women who regret their choice. Yet almost no women who have abortions regret their choice. That leaves anti-choicers to lie to the women they claim to care about, ceding the moral high ground to those who actually care about women and their babies—pro-choice advocates who believe that people continue to matter after birth, not just in utero.
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