As a resident of Austin, a beautiful blue oasis in the red that is our state, I appreciate that our city values the right of women to get truthful information about crisis pregnancy centers. It was because our city council passed an city council ordinance in 2010 that required these crisis pregnancy centers to post notices about what kind of services they provide to women in need of reproductive care. All too often, these crisis pregnancy centers have been misleading in the kind of services they provide, and women have found themselves without actual access to health care.
As NARAL Texas has documented, women have found truth in advertising behind these so-called crisis pregnancy centers, often learning that these centers do not care about their reproductive health, only about forcing an intrusion of religious agendas into their health concerns.
CPCs not only fail to address the range of choices available to women; they often attempt to dissuade women from seeking abortion by presenting factually inaccurate and misleading information. Women seeking services are often told abortion leads to breast cancer and psychological distress, or "post-abortion syndrome"--despite no medical evidence backing either claim. Women may also be shown intentionally upsetting images or receive false information about their own pregnancies.
The religious right-wing has sued the City of Austin for standing up for women's rights to truthful and accurate information about their reproductive health. The Austin City Council is meeting tomorrow to decide whether to amend the ordinance so it can continue to stand up in court or to repeal it. If this ordinance continues to be enforced, as Katherine Haenschen at Burnt Orange points out, these so-called crisis pregnancy centers would be forced to comply with city law, or be hit with a Class C misdemeanor which is punishable up to a $450 fine in municipal court.
Here's how you, as a resident of Austin, can take action to ensure that our city continues to value the lives of women and their health:
Send a message to your council member using the form by NARAL Pro-Choice Texas.
The vote is coming up tomorrow night, and we need your help to push back against the efforts of anti-women zealots to provide misleading and inaccurate information to women about their health. Take just a minute today to stand up for women in Austin, and urge your city council member to amend the ordinance rather than repealing it.
We're a blue oasis in the red state that is Texas and we're proud of it, because we value women, and we're not ashamed to do so by not letting these so-called crisis pregnancy centers get away with lying to women.
We're Texans, and we don't take any guff from the religious anti-women zealots here. We're progressives, and we know how to fight back.
Tell Our City Council To Stand Up For Women By Sending Them A Message Today!