Pro-Choice Ohio Releases Undercover Report of Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Columbus
COLUMBUS, OH – Today, Pro-Choice Ohio is releasing the results of our investigation into crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) in Columbus. Last year Pro-Choice Ohio secured funding from Columbus City Council to conduct a follow- up investigation of centers located in Columbus, OH. In 2013, the Pro-Choice Ohio Foundation released a year-long investigation into CPCs which revealed widespread use of medically inaccurate information designed to coerce women from making health care decisions they believe are best for them. This 2023 report shows that these same trends have not only continued, but are now even more prevalent due to additional state funding.
“This report is a follow-up to a 2013 investigation that found a disturbing pattern of crisis pregnancy center’s willingness to mislead people who turn to them for help,” said Jaime Miracle, deputy director of Pro-Choice Ohio. “This report shows those trends continue ten years later, with some marked changes, including pushing individuals to have ultrasounds at these unregulated non-medical facilities.”
For full text of the report, please visit www.ColumbusCPC.com.
Key findings from report released today include:
- There are 10 CPCs in Columbus compared to two facilities that provide abortion care.
- Most centers told the client that their information was confidential, but only three had the client sign information about their confidentiality policies. These facilities are not governed by HIPAA patient confidentiality rules because they are not healthcare facilities.
- The investigators still felt pressure from the CPC personnel to not choose abortion, but it was much more likely that the facility used tactics to get the investigator to change their mind rather than was openly hostile to the abortion decision.
- Facilities were much more likely in this investigation to push the investigator to get an ultrasound at the facility. The main reasons for needing an ultrasound were to rule out ectopic pregnancy, confirm the pregnancy, and give an accurate gestational age. CPCs are not medical facilities and their unregulated nature can cause clients to be put in harm’s way. Multiple reports from across the country have told stories of these facilities failing to detect ectopic pregnancies, putting individuals lives in danger. In another story out of Kentucky, a nurse who went to a CPC to volunteer found that the facility was using expired disinfectant for the transvaginal ultrasound wand, and the expired disinfectant was not one that could kill the virus that causes HPV, the most common sexually transmitted infection, risking transmitting the virus to clients at the facility.
- When CPCs were asked whether a person could turn to them for an emergency diaper need, facilities frequently said that a previous client relationship was required before receiving material assistance, even at a facility that receives state funding to provide this material assistance.
“Everyone should agree that individuals deserve comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased information when making medical decisions around pregnancy, birth control, and abortion. Unfortunately, that is not what people find when they walk through the doors of a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Columbus,” said Miracle. “We are grateful for the funding from Columbus City Council to uncover the practices of these facilities and we look forward to working with council members to find real ways to support individuals and families in our city. Thankfully our city leaders make decisions based on research and information, unlike statewide officials who blindly gave $14 million dollars to these facilities in the last state budget. These facilities should not be receiving funding to mislead people who turn to them for help.”