Columbus — Tuesday night, the Ohio House and Senate’s budget conference committee increased the funding allocated to so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) that lie to women about options during a pregnancy. Anti-abortion CPCs now stand to receive $1,000,000 over the two-year budget cycle.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “So-called crisis pregnancy centers are in no way medical institutions. They lie, they scare, and they coerce women. In a time of enormous budget shortfalls, when Republican leadership is plotting to remove access to Medicaid for low-income Ohioans, somehow Republican leaders think it’s appropriate to hand over a million dollars of public funds to fake clinics.
“We call on Gov. Kasich to respect taxpayers and women who need real medical support. He must line-item veto this waste from the budget.”
Crisis pregnancy centers are a danger to women’s reproductive health and rights. Not only do they lie to women about the risks associated with birth control and abortion, they do not give women accurate information about all the medical options available.
Crisis pregnancy centers use targeted advertising to lure in women of color. A report from Colorlines.com exposed a plan by CPCs to deliberately set up shop in these communities to go after vulnerable women and deny them the reproductive care and honest information to which they have a right. These calculated campaigns designed to mislead and deceive women about their health care options, have no place in our society.
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