Bill Would Require Baltimore Crisis Pregnancy Centers To Post Signs Saying They Do Not Offer Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 02 Nov 2009 - 2:00 PST

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Legislation (FID 09-0406) before the Baltimore City Council that would require crisis pregnancy centers to post signs stating that they do not provide abortion services prompted a "contentious" debate at a hearing on Wednesday, the Baltimore Sun reports. City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D), who introduced the bill, said it is "about truth in advertising."

Planned Parenthood lobbied for the legislation and hopes that it will serve as a model for a broader effort nationwide, the Sun reports. Keiren Havens, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in Baltimore, said, "If a woman is in a crisis and is pregnant she may be making an assumption that she may be able to find all of her options (in a crisis pregnancy center), but in fact she can't."

According to the Sun, the bill would affect at least four crisis pregnancy centers, which offer adoption information and counseling but do not provide abortion services or dispense contraception. Two of centers are funded by the Roman Catholic Church. Carol Clews, director of one of the centers, showed the city council a release form and a statement of care that the facility displays. Clews said, "We already inform our clients in a variety of ways about the services we perform."

Abortion-rights advocates refuted her claims, citing a January 2008 report that was commissioned by the NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland Fund. The report found that staff at some pregnancy centers informed patients, including NARAL investigators, that abortion leads to a greater risk for breast cancer, infertility and depression (Linskey, Baltimore Sun, 10/28).

NARAL Maryland Official Weighs In

The Sun also included a letter to the editor by Jennifer Blasdell, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland. Blasdell wrote, "If limited service pregnancy centers in Baltimore are up front in explaining that they do not offer services or referrals for abortion or birth control, then they have nothing to worry about under this proposed ordinance." She added, "As ... Rawlings-Blake explained at the hearing, this bill is about truth in advertising. That is something we should all support" (Blasdell, Baltimore Sun, 10/28).

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