Disturbing article on crisis pregnancy centers

[Lonestarblue]

16. The taxpayers of Texas are paying for this "Christian" grift.

I need a better word than grift for what these people do. They’re monsters!

Facts:
—Texas refuses to expand Medicaid under the ACA, thus having the largest number of uninsured citizens in the country. Poor women thus rely on women’s health centers like Planned Parenthood.
—A few years ago, the Republican legislature cut the budget for women’s health clinics (the ones that actually provide medical care) so drastically that 81 clinics were forced to close, most of them in rural areas with no other healthcare services for poor women—all to try to force Planned Parenthood out of the state.
—At the same time, the legislature granted $5 million to a Christian organization to start a women’s healthcare operation—never materialized, money down the drain.
—The Texas legislature then approved $100 million for crisis pregnancy centers that offer no real healthcare and are not medically licensed. They are run to lie to women about abortion (it causes cancer and infertility and all women regret it) and to make false promises about how they and their baby will be cared for. They can do a pregnancy test, which they then lie about by telling a woman, for example, that she is 12 weeks into pregnancy instead of 8 so she will believe it’s too late for a medication abortion. They then make surgical abortion sound like a dangerous, major operation with weeks required for recovery.

These crisis pregnancy center are religious organizations funded by taxpayer dollars to pretend they are medical organizations so they can stop women from having abortions. Once they have the woman’s data, such as contact information, address, and state of pregnancy, they will share that data with state agencies. Since they are not medical facilities, they are not subject to HIPAA rules. Staff will also call, harassing women to find out whether they had an abortion. They also falsely advertise “abortion services” to draw unsuspecting women in and some of them have multi-state operations.

I doubt these clinics can be shut down, but we need more from the federal government. The FDA needs to establish and staff an abortion hotline and advertise it everywhere as the safe place to get facts about abortion. A public service ad campaign could also alert women to the tactics of crisis pregnancy centers and warn them to stay away because they do not provide medical care.

Then the FDA needs to makes birth control pills and the morning-after pill over-the-counter products to prevent warped pharmacists from refusing to fill prescriptions. The government also needs to inform women where they can safely access abortion services and order abortion pills. It’s only a matter of time before these fake Christian pregnancy centers create fake abortion pills and set up an operation to mail them to women. They have millions of dollars at their disposal.

And, yes, I’ve sent these suggestions to the FDA—not even an acknowledgment of the email. Since I have two useless Senators and an equally useless Representative, I won’t waste my time contacting them. Anyone reading this who has effective representation, please feel free to share the ideas and ask for the federal government to create a campaign to provide real information to counter all the rot pushed by the Christian right. Indeed, I’d like to see the Biden Administration create a national and well-publicized position for an OB-GYN to serve as a national voice for reproductive rights and information. Sort of like the role Dr. Ashish Jha performs as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator but way more visible.

Finally, some reputable groups needs to do a broadcast expose of these crisis pregnancy centers. The NYT and WaPo have done articles, but few women who need to know to be wary of them are unlikely to read either.