California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with attorney generals from 15 other states, released an eight-page open letter recently denouncing pregnancy care centers, sometimes called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). In this document, they accused CPCs, typically operated by pro-life Christians offering alternatives to abortion, of disseminating “misinformation and causing harm.”
Bonta’s October 23rd letter was endorsed by attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
The AGs argued that CPCs harm patients by “[delaying] pregnant people from accessing critical reproductive healthcare—by dissuading pregnant people from seeking abortion care and by frequently holding themselves out as full spectrum healthcare providers when most of them are anything but.” The authors of the letter also argued that CPCs use “deceptive tactics to lure in patients” without providing the “full-scope of reproductive healthcare.” They further condemned CPCs for not providing abortions and “actively aim[ing] to prevent people from accessing abortion care.”
What they fail to recognize is that abortion is incredibly harmful to women. According to multiple publications, the likelihood of suicide-related fatalities is two to six times greater for women who have undergone abortions compared to women who have given birth. Women don’t need so-called “reproductive healthcare”—they need protection from it.
Human Coalition, a pro-life organization with multiple crisis pregnancy centers nationwide, offered a response to the attorneys general’s allegations in a statement provided to The Christian Post.
“Of the women we see at Human Coalition, 76% would actually prefer to parent if their circumstances were different,” the organization explains. “They often experience economic or social hardships that pressure them to abort, but Human Coalition and pregnancy centers across the country offer them an off-ramp from their difficult situations by giving them support and material assistance, on their terms.”
“That’s what so many miss in today’s abortion discussion — many women actually don’t want abortion, they just think it’s their only option, and it’s a message they hear over and over again from the abortion industry. Human Coalition and pregnancy centers meet them where they are at and help them make an empowered decision from a place of stability.”
The AGs’ letter also defended Yelp, a social media company currently involved in a legal battle with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The lawsuit alleges that Yelp engaged in discriminatory practices against crisis pregnancy centers on its platform.
The open letter reiterated Yelp’s assertion that the majority of personnel at CPCs lack licenses as medical professionals. “That disclaimer is misleading and often untrue because pregnancy resource centers frequently do provide medical services with licensed medical professionals onsite,” Paxton said in a press release.
The AGs also criticized the fact that CPCs promote abortion pill reversal services, saying, “CPCs also commonly promote and administer an unproven and potentially risky medical protocol, ‘abortion pill reversal’ (APR).” The truth is that there is overwhelming evidence in support of the safety and effectiveness of APR.
Finally, the letter asserted that a woman keeping her baby is “associated with worse outcomes for both the parents and children, including… higher rates of poverty, and lower educational attainment for both parents and children.”
“CPCs often provide misleading information regarding contraception, including falsely claiming that birth control is an ‘abortifacient’ and that condoms are ineffective, and they fail to discuss the risk of STIs,” the letter continued.
CPCs play a crucial role in assisting vulnerable women and fostering a culture of life. They offer prenatal care and strive to shield women from the emotional distress and profound remorse often associated with abortion. Some of these centers operate as fully accredited OB-GYN clinics, staffed with doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, and medical assistants.
Moreover, CPCs save lives. The Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) approximates that from 2016 to 2020, CPCs saved over 800,000 lives among abortion-vulnerable women across the nation.
And in addition to being life-saving, CPCs send the message to women that they can be a mother even in difficult circumstances. CPCs empower women. Abortion providers send the message that women can’t live a fulfilling life with a baby.
Through this letter and his recent lawsuit filed against CPCs, AG Bonta is doing a grave disservice to pregnant women in need. These attorneys general are slandering life-saving institutions with lies and misleading information at the expense of women’s health.
