So-called “crisis pregnancy centers”

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America Clergy Advocacy Board (CAB) believes that a crucial role of religion is to provide nonjudgmental guidance to people making complex decisions.  We value honest, authentic and compassionate care and recognize that communication needs to be at the heart of any counseling and medical interaction.

We therefore strongly oppose so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) because of the biased and often inaccurate and misleading information they provide to women seeking honest information about birth control and abortion.  CPCs disrespect liberty of conscience and a woman’s right to follow her faith’s teachings.

We stand in opposition to CPCs’ deceptive practices, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

• They disguise the reality that they are affiliated with religious organizations that are driven by a political agenda to make all abortion illegal and unavailable to women.
• They claim to provide “all options” counseling yet withhold critical information and refuse to refer a woman to a health care provider when she requests information about birth control, including emergency contraception, and safe and legal abortion.
• They use scare tactics, visuals, and unsolicited ultrasound exams to intimidate and shame women seeking safe and legal abortion.

These practices endanger the physical and emotional well-being of women seeking honest and nonjudgmental information.

As clergy that counsel women around all of their pregnancy options, we know that interfering with a woman’s decision about whether to continue a pregnancy denies her right to self-determination and undervalues her moral agency.

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The Planned Parenthood Federation of America Clergy Advocacy Board (CAB), dating from 1994, leads a national effort to increase public awareness of the theological and moral basis for advocating reproductive health and justice. CAB members are dedicated clergy and faith leaders from different denominations and communities throughout the U.S. who work with Planned Parenthood at the national and state levels to further the goal of full reproductive freedom for all women and men.

August 2007