Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey Applauds Senators Menendez and Lautenberg for their Leadership in Fighting Deceptive Advertising
Senator Menendez introduces legislation which would enforce truth-in-advertising standards for fake "clinics" known as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).
Trenton, NJ— Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey (PPANJ) applauds Senator Robert Menendez for introducing the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services (SDAWS) Act, which would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce truth-in-advertising standards for fake "clinics" known as anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). PPANJ would also like to praise Senator Lautenberg for being an original co-sponsor of the bill. This is a companion to the House bill introduced by Representative Maloney in 2006.
CPCs pose as objective health facilities using neutral-sounding names and deceptive advertising practices that lead women facing unintended pregnancies to believe that they will be offered unbiased counseling and a full range of reproductive health services. Unsuspecting women are lured into CPCs with the offer of free pregnancy testing or HIV tests.
How the SDAWS Act Will Stop CPCs
SDAWS Act directs the FTC to create rules that prohibit any organization from advertising services with the intent to deceive the public into believing that the organization is a provider of abortion services if it does not in fact provide those services. Menendez’s bill makes it clear that the FTC has the authority to penalize or take corrective action against organizations that purport to provide abortion services even if they are nonprofit organizations and provide their services for free.
"Using scare tactics and offering misinformation about medical options doesn't allow women to make informed decisions," said Michele Jaker, Executive Director of PPANJ. "Although they may claim to provide a range of services, CPCs are not legitimate health facilities and do not offer comprehensive health services and non-biased, medically accurate information about all pregnancy options. Most often they don't even meet medical standards, and this is why we must pass this bill now."
Inside CPCs
Once inside, the clinic staff — usually volunteers with no professional training — provide inaccurate, anti-choice propaganda and intimidation and do not inform women of all of their options. Women are exposed to films and written materials that lie about the development of the fetus and the physical, medical and "psychological" effects of abortion. The false information is designed to scare women into carrying pregnancies to term. CPCs also use inaccurately dated ultrasound pictures in attempts to emotionally manipulate women into continuing their pregnancies by deceiving them about gestational development.
"Deception and lies don't help women make informed choices," said Jaker. "Too often women are given incomplete or even inaccurate information that leaves them misinformed, confused, and afraid. I applaud these lawmakers for introducing federal legislation that would guarantee critical health care information is given to women so they can make informed decisions about their health."
CPCs in the Community
Instead of listing themselves in phonebooks under "abortion alternatives," CPCs are often listed under "clinics," "medical services," or "family planning," a misrepresentation that attracts women facing unintended pregnancies who are in search of a clinic that provides a full range of services. CPCs choose names such as "Women's Resource Center" or "Loving Care Pregnancy Center" to mislead women, and CPCs attempt to further confuse women by establishing themselves near legitimate reproductive health care facilities that do provide a full range of services.
The Bush administration created a windfall for CPCs through federal funds allocated to abstinence-only education programs, for which many CPCs qualify. Despite the fact that NJ has turned down abstinence-only Title V funds, community-based programs are still eligible to receive these monies from the federal government directly. Today, there are six CPCs in the United States for every legitimate health clinic that provides abortions. And in New Jersey, CPCs outnumber Planned Parenthood health centers three to one.
