Crisis Pregnancy Centers Should Be Regulated As Healthcare Providers

Firstly, let us go over some simple rules. 1. Firstly, we are talking about American Law. Please don't mention other countries unless they have similar issues with CPCs. 2. Please do your best to source any information you can, if it has nothing to do with ethics. 3. The definition of a CPC: "A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC),[1] is a type of nonprofit organization established to counsel pregnant women against having an abortion. CPCs generally provide peer counseling related to abortion, pregnancy, and childbirth, and may also offer additional non-medical services such as financial assistance, child-rearing resources, and adoption referrals. CPCs are typically run by pro-life Christians according to a conservative Christian philosophy, and they often operate in affiliation with one of three non-profit organizations." 4. Please refrain from unprofessional conduct. -Argument begins- One problem with CPCs is the pressure they put on women to carry to term, and the medical misinformation they often provide. Including telling women that it is safer to carry to term, when the abortion mortality rate is lower than United States birth mortality rates, and the mortality rates of many medical procedures - including colonoscopy. Another common claim is a link between abortions and breast cancer. However, the National Cancer Institute has refuted that claim, saying there is not, and never has been a link between the two. Another problem is the misinformation around preventative birth control, such as condoms, and the pill. If you're a pro-lifer (a true pro-lifer), birth control should be your favourite thing in the world - it lets people have sex, and reduces how many women need or want an abortion. But, Heartbeat International, the organization that runs many CPCs, has gone on the record saying that condoms are ineffective in preventing pregnancy. Here is where the true intention of a CPC that doesn't support contraception. They support controlling women's sexuality, not ending abortion. Thirdly, is the gross emotional manipulation that CPCs will go through to shut down a women's decision to have an abortion. Many times, they will offer a free ultrasound or pregnancy test to a woman who believes that she is pregnant. They don't have a medical license to operate that machine. They will often write messages such as "Hi, Mommy and Daddy" completely unsolicited, in an attempt to guilt the client. Sometimes they will shame women entering a clinic until she breaks down and goes to the center with them. Finally, is the limited help. Many CPCs provide diapers and parenting classes, which is great for women who want to become mothers. However, Abby Johnson, an anti-abortion activist, has said at a Heartbeat International conference that the mothers should be cut off from those resources after 6 months. So essentially she's saying that they can't take care of a baby forever, and do not have the resources, time, or best circumstances to do so, which are the exact reasons women seek abortions. Regulating the CPCs as healthcare providers would require that they disclose that they are a CPC, that they end the emotional manipulation, provide medically accurate information and to continue to care for those who need it.