Regulating CPCs: Consumer Protection or Affront to Free Speech?

http://www.thenation.com/article/164278/regulating-cpcs-consumer-protection-or-affront-free-speech

Today there are estimated to be more than 4,000 CPCs in the United States, dwarfing the estimated 1,800 abortion providers, and the vast majority of these centers attempt to mislead women about the services they provide. Some CPCs employ misleading advertising on billboards and public transportation to get women in the door, while others buy ads on Google that are clearly meant to deceive women who are in search of abortion. For example, if you Google “abortion San Francisco,” or “abortion services San Francisco,” an advertisement for local CPC chain First Resort reading “Abortion info” appears at the top of the results page. Neither the ad nor First Resort’s website itself mentions First Resort’s ideological slant. CPCs frequently open across the street or near abortion clinics, and once women are inside CPCs, the deception continues. Although most crisis pregnancy centers are not medical clinics, they cultivate the appearance of being licensed medical clinics—staff members often dress in scrubs, provide ultrasounds and pregnancy tests, collect personal health and insurance information and even inform women that they’ve received actual prenatal medical care. NARAL Pro-Choice America investigations across the country have documented widespread dissemination of misleading and false information, including telling women that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, infertility and mental-health problems—all claims that have been medically refuted.