First, what is a crisis pregnancy centre (CPC) and why should you care what it does?
A crisis pregnancy centre targets people facing unplanned pregnancies—however, the majority of them are actually religious, anti-abortion organizations devoted to eliminating abortions.
The so-called “accurate” information they give about contraception, emergency contraception, and abortion is not in agreement with top experts in the field. It is often outdated, or simply false. While these centres claim to be non-judgmental, they are often against sex outside of heterosexual marriages.
Often, people get into CPCs because they offer free pregnancy tests, or the centre comes up in Google searches for “abortion”. This is not by accident. These are tools to get you in the door so they can prevent you from getting an abortion.
Sadly, there are more crisis pregnancy centres in North America than clinics promoting accurate, scientific information.
Let’s cover some ways you can tell if an organization is secretly an anti-abortion centre.
They may call themselves a pregnancy resource centre, pregnancy help centre, pregnancy care centre, or women’s resource centre.
These names suggest that pregnant people are able to get the care they need. Sadly, it’s hard to access medical services in general, so any names or ads promoting these terms may encourage people to come through their doors, especially when over 100,000 people in Nova Scotia don’t even have a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Their marketing and atmosphere feel medical in nature.
Some centres even get their staff to wear white coats, which are always linked to doctors and other professionals. The CPC websites and advertisements promote a modern, professional look that may make people think they are using a genuine medical service. However, almost all of their staff are not licensed or trained in any medical field, and rarely have any counselling certifications because anyone in NS can legally call themselves a counsellor.
They often use terms that cause their centres to pop up in Google searches for abortion.
Any search engine or database relies on key words to give you results. Often, people searching for “abortions” get CPCs in their search results even though they don’t provide abortions or accurate medical information on abortion.
CPC websites often mention links with larger organizations like Care Net, Heartbeat International, and Birthright International.
These religious organizations are against abortion. While some CPCs are independent, there are often bigger players behind the scenes. They are sometimes the source of misinformation like “abortions cause breast cancer” or “abortions cause suicide”.
Websites or brochures mention Focus on the Family.
This is a huge religious corporation from the United States that offers information on relationships, abortions, and other issues. It is often very conservative in its views, including in regards to 2SLGBTQAIP* rights. For example, they say people shouldn’t be transgender, or that marriage is only between a man and a woman. You can guess what they think of abortion.
The centres promote religion.
Religion works for some people and can be helpful if you’re seeking it out or are comforted by it. However, these centres may push religious messaging on you even if you’d prefer to keep your dealings with them religion-free. For example, in Canada, most medical services are provided as a secular service, which means you don’t have to deal with religion in order to get a medical appointment or service provided.
The centres warn they won’t refer you for an abortion.
Big warning flag. You don’t need a referral to get an abortion in some places, like Nova Scotia. You simply refer yourself to the NS Choice Clinic at 1-833-352-0719. This is a relief in a province where so many people don’t have doctors.
The centres usually have a disclaimer they do not provide medical advice.
First, always take internet information with a grain of salt. Who wrote the website or information? What are their credentials? Where do they get their information from? Only your own doctor, pharmacist, or nurse practitioner can offer you medical advice, because it is tailored to your own medical history and circumstances. No one else can do that for you. Chances are, a website or information that is written by a doctor or scientist, or is hosted by a government or educational institution, is pretty accurate. CPC sites are often full of misinformation. (FYI our site actually has the medical disclaimer because we still want people to chat with their own personal health care providers!)
Their advertising and website target young women who may be scared, alone, or hopeless.
They often promise love, hope, acceptance, and more. They target some of the most vulnerable folks who may be pregnant, such as those who are young and concerned about paying for services. This is why the free pregnancy tests bring in new clients.
They offer free things to new parents with strings attached.
They may give out clothes, diapers, and bottles, but the parents must attend lectures and workshops to “earn” them. These workshops then include religious messaging. People shouldn’t have to “earn” any charitable items they need to provide safety for their families.
They play up supposed “risks” of abortions while minimizing the risks of pregnancy or the trauma that may come from adoption.
Abortions done by a medical professional in a sterile environment come with few medical risks. However, these centres tell you that an abortion may cause breast cancer, troubles conceiving down the road, mental health and addictions, and even suicide! These claims are false and not supported by any medical professional worth their salt. Furthermore, no one ever hears about the trauma that can be caused by adoption. No option is perfectly rosy, and no option is necessarily evil or dangerous. In fact, pregnancy can be serious to some bodies, which is why you need to chat with actual medical professionals about your circumstances so you can make an informed decision.
They tell you that emergency contraception causes abortion because it keeps an egg from implanting in the uterus, or that birth control can cause abortions.
Birth control cannot cause abortions. Birth control works by preventing the egg and the sperm from meeting up. Once that egg and sperm have united, there is a potential for pregnancy. The only thing that can potentially prevent implantation is the copper IUD. However, hormonal emergency contraception only works by stopping the ovaries from releasing an egg or two. Early on, we thought there was some potential for hormonal emergency contraception to keep a fertilized egg from implanting, but this is now known not to be true. (Otherwise, hormonal emergency contraception would be more effective!)
They talk about post-abortion support and counselling, or even make up a term like post-abortion syndrome, which is not recognized in the mental health field.
Their messaging seems to suggest that abortion is a profoundly traumatic experience requiring extensive care afterwards—even though the “counselling” people receive is given by lay people who have no background or credentials in social work, psychology, or counselling. The reality is that any pregnancy choice (abortion, adoption, or parenting) can be traumatic and require support. This is why counselling should be delivered by people with credentials and licenses that are recognized. If abortions cause suicide, why are volunteers talking to people and not licensed counsellors?
There are other signs they may be sex negative, including taking a stance against pornography.
There is little evidence that pornography use is bad, although some research suggests that being highly religious can cause a lot of shame in relation to pornography use. In other words, it’s not pornography that is usually the problem; it’s the shame people feel if they’ve been told it’s against their religion, or it’s bad for them. Consenting adults can consume pornography safely, especially when it’s ethically produced, feminist, or queer. Like all forms of media, there are good and bad examples of it. Consent is the key word here. Anything you watch should have the consent of all adults involved, including the actors.
CPCs target people who have been trafficked.
We all know that human trafficking is horrible, and a huge concern in Nova Scotia’s rural areas. Sometimes, though, people aren’t careful to separate human trafficking (horrible) with sex work performed by informed adults. Furthermore, it’s important to be trauma-informed when working with people who have faced sexualized violence, otherwise there’s a risk of doing more harm. One of the most important things we can offer to people who have experienced violence is a safe place where their choices are respected and they have the right to make decisions that work for them.
They may offer messaging that sex before marriage is sinful, or relationships between people who are 2SLGBTQAIP* are wrong.
Centres like these may promote information that is biased against everything that isn’t done within a heterosexual marriage between a cisgender man and woman. They may not promote safer sex, they may criticize different relationships and ways of exploring sexual pleasure, and may even suggest that pornography destroys relationships. While some explicitly say they serve all genders and orientations, in practice, that may not be true.
What should you do?
Any reputable organization is upfront about their values and mission. They should welcome any questions you have as a responsible consumer. These services may be free, but are often paid for by public monies or donations, which means these organizations have an ethical duty to be transparent and offer services that cause no harm.
And harm is caused by offering misinformation designed to manipulate you into making a certain decision. We have seen with the pandemic that misinformation can be dangerous to individuals as well as public health in general.
Be careful and question any service you seek. Information is power, and you deserve to have information that comes from the best research today.
Where is your research coming from?
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If you’d like to learn more about the culture of CPCs and how they operate across North America, we’ll point you in the direction of this article The Truth about Crisis Pregnancy Centres (https://www.missinformed.ca/post/the-truth-about-crisis-pregnancy-centres).
If you’d like to learn more about clinics and centres that offer secular services and evidence based information, visit Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights (https://www.actioncanadashr.org/resources/services).