Crisis Pregnancy Centers Under Fire
Catholic Senator Menendez (D-NJ) joins the assault
"Just as Catholic voters are not asked to leave aside the most deeply held moral convictions of our faith when they enter a voting booth, so Catholic elected officials are not asked to deposit the moral and ethical convictions of the Church at the door of Congress or at the State Assembly where they serve."
Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl, May 5, 2008
Abortion rights groups have focused their attention on CPC's by making charges of deception and coercion.
If these pro-abortion groups really have the overall health of the young woman in mind, why are they opposed to pro-life pregnancy centers? Could it be that these Crisis Pregnancy Centers now receive federal funding under the Bush administration?
Last month Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey continued their attack on Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC) when it exhorted its supporters to back the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act (SDAWS).Click here for text of the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act (H.R. 2478).
Rep. Carolyn Maloney and 11 other sponsors introducedSDAWS to the NJ House ofRepresentatives last May. Catholic U.S. Senator Robert Menendez introduced in the Senate the companion to SDAWS in April. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has signed on as a co-sponsor - no surprise there.
Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman (D-CA) released an investigation last July detailing the use of misinformation to convince pregnant women not to have an abortion (click here to readthe report). It's a bit curious that Representative Waxman also held lopsided hearings last month to prove the ineffectiveness of abstinence only programs. He seems to be working overtime on behalf of pro-abortion rights groups.
Opponents of Crisis Pregnancy Centers believe these pregnancy help centers present false information regarding the increase of breast cancer, fertility problems, and psychological problems among women who have had abortions.
Catholic Online reported the following:
Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D., National Right to Life Director of Education and Research, systematically debunked the standard attacks on CPCs in his two-part article "Pro-Abortionists Crank Up Campaign to Mislead Public"
"As the number of CPCs has grown, as some centers have begun to receive modest federal funding, and as the Movement has grown far more effective in getting the truth about abortion's risks and realities into the hands of pregnant women, the attack has intensified," explained O'Bannon.
CPC critics cite the National Cancer Institute (NCI) 2003 Conference as an example of an authoritative denial of the abortion-breast cancer link.
"But the report never explains why or how the same panel could still declare that a first full-term pregnancy would have a 'protective effect' against possible future breast cancer. Or why the NCI's own journal published a study in 1994 showing women having abortions had a 50% increased risk of having breast cancer before age 45. Or why 13 out of 17 studies in the U.S. showed more breast cancer among women having abortions," writes O'Bannon.
In light of CPC opponents' selective citations denying the increased fertility problems among women who have had abortions, O'Bannon details a slew of studies confirming the connection.
For instance, "a 1993 study from the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showing more than doubled risk of future infertility among aborting women." Further, a study from the April 2005 British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology "showed that women who have had abortions were at higher risk of very preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancies than women with no such history."
Contrary to the American Psychological Association's denial of "Post-Abortion Syndrome," O'Bannon said that he found scholarly evidence for the psychologically harmful effects of abortion.
A self-professed "pro-choice" New Zealand researcher David Fergusson found after a 2006 study that "those having an abortion had elevated rates of subsequent mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors and substance abuse disorders."
In response to on-going attacks on CPCs, Life Decisions International (LDI) has launched Project Fight Back!, an organized effort to present to Congress and other lawmakers the truth about CPCs' helpful services....and in Maryland
NARAL and Planned Parenthood affiliates in Maryland were behind the recent attempt in the state legislature with bills targeted at crisis pregnancy centers. Although the bills never made it out of committee, they would have required crisis pregnancy centers to tell women they are “not required” to give factual information.
National Review gives an account of how these bills madie it to the legislature and the hearing:
It all began when NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland released an undercover “investigation” claiming that pregnancy centers misled women about their services and provided false information about abortion risks. The report was based on 11 visits to pregnancy centers by women pretending to be pregnant — hardly scientific research, and yet it was enough for NARAL to accuse 42 Maryland pregnancy centers, serving some 30,000 clients annually, of wrongdoing.
NARAL used the report to gin up Senate Bill 690 and House Bill 1146 in the Old Line State. These bills would force pregnancy centers to provide a disclaimer saying that, among other things, “we are not required to provide medically accurate information” to all potential clients upon first contact. In other words, “Welcome to our center. We’re here to lie to you!” read more
Life Decisions Internation (LDI) reports that the attack on Crisis Pregnancy Centers is nothing new. Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups began a disinformation campaign against Crisis Pregnancy centers many years ago. In addition to educationg the public, LDI will also present the findings of their "Project Fight Back" to Congress and the media exposing the conspiracy against CPC's.
Life Decisions International's "Project Fight Back"
Background
In 1987, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and National Abortion Federation (NAF) leaders publicly alleged that pregnancy help centers are little more than dangerous "fake abortion clinics" intent on luring unsuspecting and vulnerable women into a web of anti-abortion propaganda, lies and false promises. Once inside a "fake abortion clinic," women are allegedly abused (verbally and emotionally), threatened, and even physically restrained. PPFA and NAF leaders made the allegations at a press conference, where they were flanked by representatives from several other pro-abortion groups.
The campaign to "expose" pregnancy help centers was the direct result of a conspiracy between pro-abortion groups, its allies in the media, and one member of Congress. At the command of PPFA and NAF, the media "exposed" the deceptive, dirty and dangerous "fake abortion clinics." They sought to invoke fear and mistrust through half-truths and outright lies in the effort to dissuade women from going to pregnancy help centers. LDI
Read more on Project Fight Back
The bills being brought agaisnt Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the last year are the result of the campaign set forth over twenty years ago by these pro-abortion groups. Additionally, these well-funded pro-abortion advocacy groups have assisted pro-choice politicans in their campaigns through direct contributions and independent expenditures used to target their pro-life opponents. Once in office these elected officials advance the pro-abortion agenda.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers seek to help a woman with an unplanned pregnancy by offering her alternatives that protect both the mother and her unborn child. One has to question the real motives of Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups who seek to interfere with these help centers. But the eevn greater evil, is the Catholic politician who helps them achieve what they can't accomplish on their own.
