Pregnancy centers face targeted attacks

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 2nd of August, 2022.

You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re so glad to have you along with us today. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. First up on The World and Everything in It: violence against pregnancy centers.

Pro-life pregnancy centers across the country have been dealing with increased vandalism and arson since the leak of the draft opinion in the Dobbs case. In blue states, pregnancy centers are dealing with attacks on other levels too: political attacks from local and state politicians.

BROWN: Leah Savas reports on some of the challenges facing one center in Massachusetts.

LEAH SAVAS: The morning of July 7, Kelly Wilcox got a disturbing call. At the pregnancy center she directs in Worcester, Massachusetts, vandals had shattered the glass doors and spray-painted words on the sidewalk in front.

WILCOX: Well, I was there within 45 minutes. And it was, you know, discouraging. My first thought was, This is so sad. My second thought was, they don't understand who we are and what we do. And my third thought was, how fast can I get our doors open again?

That attack wasn’t the only recent hint Wilcox has gotten that her community doesn’t understand the work of pro-life pregnancy centers.

The Worcester city council voted last month to start working on an ordinance that would target centers like the Clearway Clinic, where Wilcox works.

MAYOR PETTY: Any such establishment operating within city limits with a primary purpose of providing services to people who are or have reason to believe they may be pregnant, including mobile facilities, must either directly provide or provide referrals for abortions or emergency contraception.

AUDIO: [CITY COUNCIL VOTE]

Wilcox has watched similar ordinances make their way through other Massachusetts towns.

WILCOX: It started in Somerville, and then it went to Cambridge. And then Easthampton is now considering it, and now Worcester.

So far, the only one that has passed is in Somerville, which has no pregnancy centers. That ordinance singles out centers that don’t promote abortion and prohibits them from engaging in—quote—deceptive practices. The problem is, who gets to define “deceptive”?

Some Worcester residents accuse local pregnancy centers of deceptive practices. Here’s one local woman speaking at a July 19 city council meeting:

WOMAN: …Particularly Problem Pregnancy. There are many, many people that will go there will say I have an appointment today thinking they're across the street and they're ushered right in and given an ultrasound they think they're at their appointment. And then they are told, basically, inaccurate information about the risks of abortion. They leave extremely upset and end up where they meant to go.

Problem Pregnancy is on the same street as the Planned Parenthood in Worcester. Vandals attacked that center the same night they targeted the Clearway Clinic, Wilcox’s center. Both pro-life centers appear near the top of Google searches for abortion in Worcester. Problem Pregnancy’s search results entry says “Abortion Near Me.” Its website advertises “Abortion consultations” while including a disclaimer at the bottom of each webpage that says “Problem Pregnancy does not perform or refer for abortions.” When I contacted the center, the receptionist said it wasn’t taking media interviews.

But at the city council meeting, Wilcox from Clearway Clinic explained the measures her center takes to avoid the appearance of being deceptive.

WILCOX: Patients however, must sign an authorization before they come to us for services that where it's clearly understood they are not coming to us for abortion services. We tell them on the phone that and I've given for the record copies of our marketing ads that clearly state right on them stamped across the top we do not provide abortions or abortion referrals.

Wilcox said her center shows up in searches for abortion in Worcester because it markets post-abortion care. It also promotes comprehensive informed consent for women considering abortion. Other women at the city council meeting said they found needed help at Clearway Clinic and Problem Pregnancy. They said they knew the centers did not provide abortions.

The day before vandals attacked the two Worcester centers, the Massachusetts Attorney General issued a consumer advisory to—quote—“warn patients about crisis pregnancy centers.” The advisory notes that most pregnancy centers are not licensed medical facilities and aren’t staffed by licensed doctors or nurses even though they might wear white coats.

But the advisory itself is deceptive. Sure, many Massachusetts pregnancy centers don’t appear on the state’s list of licensed healthcare facilities. But neither do some standard healthcare providers in the state, like private doctor’s offices. Clearway Clinic is fully licensed as an outpatient clinic under the state health department. Here’s Wilcox again:

WILCOX: Most of the pregnancy centers in the United States operate in a doctor's office type of organizational structure. But that's usually one doctor or maybe two, we wanted to have a lot of doctors working in our organization, actually, they volunteer in our organization, and they support our staff, nurses.

Anne O’Connor is vice president of the national pregnancy center group NIFLA.

O’CONNOR: There's 2700 pregnancy centers nationwide and about 80% are medical, meaning they provide medical services under the direction and supervision of a licensed physician, using licensed medical professionals on site to provide those services. So we advise those medical centers in best practices, we advise them to comply with all state and federal laws regarding licensing and things like that.

For Wilcox, these attacks from different levels have taught her that she needs to assume a new role in her community.

WILCOX: I should say, I have failed to educate, and make aware to our lawmakers exactly who we are and what we do. And I think other executive directors in Massachusetts have come to a similar conclusion that we can no longer just serve women and children, we have a responsibility to publicly advocate and educate the public at large about what we do.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leah Savas.

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