A crisis pregnancy center ( CPC ), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center ( PRC ), is a type a non-profit organization established to advise pregnant women not to have an abortion. CPC typically provides peer counseling related to abortion, pregnancy, and childbirth, and may also offer additional non-medical services such as financial assistance, child rearing resources, and adoption referrals. Qualified CPCs as medical clinics can also provide pregnancy tests, sonograms, and other services. However, BPK has also been known to disseminate false medical information, usually about the physical and mental health risks of abortion, but sometimes also about the effectiveness of condoms and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
CPC is typically run by pro-life Christians according to conservative Christian philosophy, and they often operate in affiliation with one of three nonprofit organizations: Care Net, Heartbeat International, and Birthright International. By 2013, there are about 2,500 CPCs in the United States, compared to 1,800 abortion clinics, and Canada has several times as many CPCs as abortion clinics. Hundreds of more CPCs operate outside the US and Canada. During the Presidency of George W. Bush (2001-2009) BPK received tens of millions of dollars in federal grants. In 2015, more than half of the US state helps to fund a pregnancy crisis center either directly and/or through the sale of Select Life number plate.
Legal and legislative acts regarding CPC generally seek to curb fraudulent advertising, targeting those who imply that they offer abortion services by asking the center to disclose that they do not offer certain services or have certain qualifications. In 1993, the National Institute of Family and Life Lawyers (NIFLA) was formed to provide legal advice to the CPC in the US.
Video Crisis pregnancy center
History and activity
The Family Research Council describes the beginning of the crisis center's pregnancy movement in its 2009 report. In 1968, the first network of centers was founded by Birthright, in Canada. The Alternative to Abortion, today known as Heartbeat International, was founded in 1971. Christian Action Council established its first center in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1980. The Christian Action Council will eventually become Care Net. Others call Robert Pearson as the founder of the first CPC. After abortion was legalized in Hawaii in 1967, she started a pregnancy crisis center in Honolulu to fight her.
Although BPK often looks like an abortion clinic and is intentionally placed near them, most are not legally licensed as medical clinics and do not offer medical services. However, CPCs often offer free pregnancy tests, which are often over-the-counter; In addition, there is a tendency toward BPK to get medical clinic status, mostly so that more CPCs can offer sonograms in an attempt to convince women to bring their pregnancies to term. They can also provide screenings for sexually transmitted infections, adoption referral, religious counseling, financial assistance, prenatal services, child rearing resources and other services.
Peer counselors are usually protected by mandatory reporting laws related to rape by law, and they are encouraged to inquire about the age of women and biological fathers. While some centers refer clients to contraception, most do not and the service may be limited to married women. Others may offer Bible study and counseling sessions for women who have just had an abortion.
CPC has been criticized for misleading advertising, for inaccurate dissemination of medical information, for religious proselytism, and for directing clients to video graphics. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, an independent abortion provider, says young women are particularly vulnerable to religiously influenced "Crisis Centers", which are not regulated by the National Health Service, as many women are less aware of health care. system or do not want to consult their family GP.
The crisis pregnancy center, along with hospitals and firefighters and police stations, is set by state law in Louisiana as an emergency care facility where parents can hand over custody of a newborn.
Use sonogram
Some BPKs do free sonograms as a way to deter women from abortion. Proponents say that women who visit BPK and see their embryos or fetuses through the use of ultrasound technology tend to decide against abortion, although no scientific studies support this.
Organizations such as Focus on the Family and Colorado-based Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, have worked to supplement more CPCs with ultrasound machines.
Fake medical information
CPC is often found to spread false medical information. In some cases, such information may be based on old studies that have been discredited by newer research. On the other hand, the CPC can falsely claim to illustrate the existing scientific consensus. CPC false information is usually about the health risks of abortion, for example, it is less safe for pregnant women than it is when the opposite is true.
One common medical claim is the affirmation of the relationship between abortion and breast cancer. The crisis pregnancy centers told clients that their chances of getting breast cancer increased dramatically after the abortion. Major medical agencies (including the National Cancer Institute) say that there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.
Another statement is the relationship between abortion and mental health problems. BPK counselors have warned clients about very negative psychological consequences, including high levels of depression, "post-abortion syndrome", post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, substance abuse, sexual dysfunction and relationships, a tendency to violence against children, and other emotional problems. Neither the American Psychiatric Association nor the American Psychological Association recognizes the existence of "post-abortion syndrome", and a review of the American Psychological Association of relevant studies found that "abortion is usually psychologically harmless." The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found no evidence to support a possible increase in abuse.
BPK may also claim that surgical abortion is a dangerous procedure, with a high risk of perforation or infection and death. In fact, the risk of complications requiring hospitalization after abortion is about 2 in 1,000 in the US. The risk of perforation and infection allegations is also part of the statement that abortion has a negative impact on childhood pregnancy, increasing the risk of infertility, miscarriage, complications, ectopic pregnancy, or fetal health problems. This claim is not supported by medical data.
BPK has also been found to disseminate misinformation about birth control methods, in particular the idea that contraception and condoms are malfunctioning or have harmful effects.
Misinformation about pregnancy and the body of a woman or about fetal development can also be given, such as misinformation about the availability of abortion in early pregnancy and postpartum depression rates among women carrying the term, BPK may also misinform women about their stage of pregnancy to prevent them from seeking abortion until it is no longer legally possible.
Care Net denounced "any form of fraud in corporate advertising or individual conversations with clients," although they also said about their promotion of abortion-breast cancer relationships that "their role is clear to incorporate these potential risks when [they] educate clients about all risks abortion. "
Religious affiliation
Most of the CPCs in the US are run by pro-life Christians according to conservative Christian philosophy. In 2007, two Christian charities, Care Net and Heartbeat International, contributed three quarters of the CPC in the United States. Care Net, the largest CPC network in the United States, is explicitly evangelical, and says that "the ultimate goal... is to share the love and truth of Jesus Christ in words and deeds" and that "his pregnancy centers are committed to sharing Jesus' love with everyone who walks through their doors. "Heartbeat International, one of the largest CPC networks in the United States and also the world's largest CPC network, runs a" Christian crisis center "and describes itself as a" Christian association of faith-based belief source centers " the material is "consistent with biblical principles." The National Institute of Family and Life Lawyers (NIFLA), who works with BPK on legal issues, "strongly believes that sharing the Gospel is an important part of women's counseling in pregnancy helping medical clinics". Some BPKs are run by the Catholic Church or by other church groups. Unaffiliated CPCs, or CPCs affiliated with other organizations, can provide a religious perspective in their counseling.
Unlike the open Christian perspective of most BPK networks, Birthright International has a stated non-evangelistic philosophy. The Jewish CPC organization, called In Shifra's Arms, also exists.
Many CPCs need their staff to become Christians. For example, as a condition of affiliation, the Care Net and the Canadian Association of Pregnancy Support Services, the two largest CPC organizations in the United States and Canada, require every employee and volunteer of affiliate candidates to comply with a statement of faith. CPCs that are not affiliated with either of these may also require staff to become Christians.
Religious activities are sometimes part of the CPC customer experience. Care Net, who is "committed to presenting the Gospel of our Lord to women with crisis pregnancies", claims to have done more than 23,000 repentances or statements of Christian faith. NIFLA "strongly believes that sharing the gospel is an important part of women's counseling in pregnancy assisting medical clinics". Some visitors to the CPC report that employees subject them to undesirable evangelism.
CPC outside the United States is also often Christian. CareConfidential, the largest umbrella network for CPC in the UK, runs a "Christian-based pregnancy crisis center" and is a division of CARE Christian charity. The Canadian Association of Pregnancy Support Services, a similar network in Canada whose center may also be affiliated with Care Net or Heartbeat International, describes itself as a "Christian charity"; affiliations "are inherent in Christianity." US-based Human Life International runs a "Catholic pregnancy center" in Mexico and also provides assistance to Centros de Ayuda para la Mujer, the CPC network in Latin America whose philosophy is "in accordance with the Magisterium of Roman Catholic and Apostolic Churches." United States, unaffiliated CPC can also be run by church groups or vice versa is Christian.
Advertising method
CPC has been criticized for deceptive advertising. Some fake abortion services advertise, attract clients who want to have an abortion. In the 1980s, investigative journalists from the Arizona Republic Republic San Francisco Chronicle and CBS News, among others, filed a story about BPK withdrawing women by offering a free pregnancy test but then presenting those with religious arguments and scare tactics against abortion. CPC may intentionally find close, and look like, an abortion clinic; critics also object to the use of rhetoric and CPC advertising language similar to an abortion provider, such as "Plan Your Parents" or directory listings under "abortion services" or "clinics". This, they say, can mislead pregnant women seeking abortions to contact BPK. In particular, Pearson Foundation's advertising approach, which helps local groups set CPCs, has been criticized by several other pro-life groups, including Birthright International, another CPC operator. The Foundation recommends that a center find women who want an abortion through "neutral" ads, and refuse to answer questions that will reveal that they do not provide abortion or referral services to abortion services. Pearson, identified by some as the founder of the first CPC, said that a woman "has no right to information" would allow her to have an abortion. In Ireland, where abortion is illegal except when pregnancy jeopardizes the lives of mothers and women often travels to the UK to end their pregnancies, the "naughty" BPK, in contrast to government sponsored pregnancies, can give a false impression in their advertisements that they refer women to UK for abortion or providing information for women who want to travel for abortion.
In recent years, BPK has also begun to use the Internet as a means of advertising. Some use search engine optimization to get their website closer to the top of search results or bids against abortion providers appear at the top of links sponsored on Google and Yahoo. Heartbeat International, a Christian association running 1,800 crisis pregnancy centers, recommends that BPK use two websites, a fund-raising website that describes an anti-abortion mission to secure donors, and other websites intended to provide medical information to attract women seeking contraception, counseling, or abortion.
Legality
Many legal and legislative acts around the CPC seek to curb deceptive ads by CPC seeking to give the impression that they provide abortion or other women's health services.
Lawsuits against a number of CPCs have determined that they are engaged in false advertising and require them to change their methods, or lead to settlements where they agree to do so. CPCs that advertise that they provide abortion services are prohibited from doing so or are obliged to tell clients that they are not doing so. In some cases, the CPC is prohibited from using a name similar to the nearest medical clinic providing abortion, from giving a pregnancy test, or from a pregnancy test ad as "free" if they are on parole after hearing a presentation or counseling. In one of these cases, the CPC stated that they did not receive any money from clients and were therefore not subject to regulations on commercial speech, but the court ruled that they were not released because they aimed to provide services rather than exchanging ideas.
Some rules requiring the CPC to send a sign reveal that they do not provide abortion, birth control, referral to both, and sometimes other medical services have been ordered, with the court finding that "forced speech" violates the rights of the center. In December 2009, Baltimore, Maryland was the first local government to introduce and issue BPK regulations - Ordinance 09-252, "Restricted Pregnancy Service Center - Disclaimer". Austin, Texas amends legislation requiring centers to disclose that they do not offer abortion or contraceptive services to otherwise require them to disclose that they do not offer medical services under the direction of a licensed health care provider. A bill in Oregon will require that its CPC, not currently regulated, reveal whether they provide this service, and prohibit them from releasing health information collected from clients without the client's consent. In San Francisco, rather than forcing any speech, city rules are framed as fraudulent advertising laws that allow the court to finance a CPC up to $ 500 each time they imply falsely in the ads they offer abortion services. The constitutionality of law is enforced in federal courts, with judges rejecting claims from the CPC that have been identified by city lawyers as deceptive advertising.
California's "2015 Reproductive FACT Act" requires a CPC without a medical license to post signs that they do not have licensed medical facilities and do not have medical professionals providing or supervising services; The CPC should also notify clients of state public programs for reproductive health care. The law has been opposed in the National Institute of Families and Life Advocates v. Becerra , arguing in the Supreme Court on March 20, 2018, and the Court will decide whether or not the disclosure required by the California Reproductive Act FACT violates the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment.
On March 30, 2006, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and eleven co-sponsors first introduced a bill called "Stop Fraud Ads for Women's Services Act", which would require the Federal Trade Commission to "disseminate prohibiting rules... from advertising to intent to deceive creates the impression that these people provide abortion services "and" enforce rule violations such as unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive conduct or practice. "Maloney and his colleagues have reintroduced the bill at several Congresses, the last in May 2013, at the 113th Congress.
In July 2006, Representative Henry Waxman and his team from the Special Investigation Division published the "False and Misleading Health Information Provided by the Federated Funded Pregnancy Resource Center", which analyzed the scientific accuracy of information provided by the Bush Administration's priorities: "pregnancy" funded federal government resource center. "Since 2001, the pregnancy resource center has received more than $ 30 million in federal funding, most of which comes from federal programs for abstinence education alone, and additional funding has been distributed as a" capacity building "grant to 25 pregnancy resource centers in 15 states as part of the new $ 150million $ 54 million Capital Asset Fund For this report, female researchers called 25 pregnancy resource centers that had received grants from the Mercy Capital Fund, requested information and advice on unwanted pregnancies During the investigation, 20 of 23 percent (87%) provide false or misleading information about the health effects of abortion.
In 2002, following investigations and subpoenas from a number of New York CPCs allegedly involved in deceptive business practices, the Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office in New York drafted an agreement with one of the CPCs intended to be used as a model, establishing the practice including notifying clients that the center does not provide abortion or birth control, that it is not a licensed medical facility, and that the pregnancy test it provides is over-the-counter.
In the UK, the Standard Advertising Authority is mandated in 2013 that the Central London Women's Center should stop using "misleading" and "irresponsible" ads that imply that it offers abortion services.
Maps Crisis pregnancy center
Government funding
As of July 2006, 50 CPC Americans have received federal funds. Between 2001 and 2006, more than $ 60 million of federal funds were given to crisis pregnancy centers, mostly from funds for abstinence programs provided under the conservative George W. Bush administration.
In 2006, 20 US states the pregnancy center of the subsidized crisis. These include Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The effort is led by the anti-abortion republics. Several CPCs in Canada have received funding from the provincial government. In 29 US states, individuals can support CPC by purchasing license plates Select Life . Drivers in these countries can request this plate and pay additional fees, part of which is used by the state to fund adoption support organizations and pregnancy crisis centers. In July 2013, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee vetoed the bill for license plates stating that he thought it violated the separation of church and state.
Consultation required
South Dakota enacted a law in 2011 that would require consultation at a crisis pregnancy center as a prerequisite for obtaining an abortion. The law, which came into effect in July 2011, will also form the longest 3-day waiting period in the country. In June 2011, Judge Karen Schreier issued a preliminary injunction to block the law from being valid, writing that the provision "constitutes a substantial obstacle to a woman's decision to get an abortion because they force a woman against her intention to disclose her decision to undergo an abortion to a central employee pregnancy assistance before she can undergo an abortion. "Although the law remains ordered, the state then sets out other laws that exclude weekends and holidays from the mandated 72-hour waiting period for someone seeking an abortion, possibly extending the waiting procedure up to 6 day, so only a few days when the CPC is open will be counted as part of the period.
In some cases, judges who are responsible for providing under-age jurisdiction to minors have required them to go to BPK for counseling prior to an abortion.
Affiliate
Most crisis pregnancy centers are affiliated with some of the key pro-life organizations that fund BPK; These are Care Net, Heartbeat International, Birthright International, and National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA). CPC can affiliate with more than one network. US-based Care Net and Heartbeat International are the two largest CPC networks in the world with about 3,000 related centers between them in the United States and abroad. The largest organizations in the UK are CareConfidential and LIFE, while the largest in Canada is the Canadian Association of Pregnancy Support Services (CAPSS). Human Life International, a Catholic group opposing abortion, also runs CPCs outside the United States. Irish
: confusion with government sponsored center
In Ireland, centers that are not affiliated with the government are trying to persuade women not to have an abortion. It has been reported to "use manipulation and alarmist information", including false medical information, and has been termed a "malicious agent".
Pregnancy Programs The government crisis (formerly Crisis Pregnancy Agency) funded the crisis pregnancy initiative and was in turn replaced by the Health Service Executive; however, the crisis pregnancy counseling grant, provided through a campaign called "Positive Choice", is only provided to centers that offer accurate non-directive and medical counseling that addresses all possible options, including traveling abroad for abortion. Efforts sponsored by the central government to reduce the number of women who choose abortion consist primarily of providing "services and support that make other choices more attractive." A survey by the CPP found that 4 out of 46 women surveyed had "bad agents" while seeking counseling. The Department of Health has not regulated an anti-abortion agency, since the 1995 Abortion Information Act, which stipulates that Irish women have the right to know about abortion services abroad and that governs information providers, do not apply to centers that do not provide information about abortion.
The term "crisis pregnancy" is used by abortion rights agents, such as the Irish Family Planning Association.
See also
- Christianity and abortion
- Pregnancy counseling options
References
External links
Partition position
Pro-life
- The Spirit to Serve: The Vision for Life - Report on the 2009 Pregnancy Resource Service Center, CPC movement status by coalition of BPK and pro-life organizations
Pro-Options
- Pregnancy Crisis Center, National Abortion Federation
- The Truth about the Pregnancy Crisis Center, NARAL Pro-Choice America
- Crisis Pregnancy Center Strives To Improve Political Power, Secures Government Subsidies, Guttmacher Institute
- RH Reality Playback on CPC
Press
- Pregnancy Centers Get Influence at Anti-Abortion Arena, New York Times, January 4, 2013
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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