July 18, 2007
Dear Representative:
As organizations committed to ensuring that women have access to unbiased, medically accurate information about their reproductive health care options, we urge you to cosponsor the "Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act" (H.R. 2478). This important legislation prohibits anti-choice Crisis Pregnancy Centers from deceptively advertising in a way that suggests they provide abortion when, in fact, they do not provide such care.
Certain Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) use deceptive advertising practices to give the appearance that they are legitimate medical clinics that provide a variety of reproductive health care services, including family planning and abortion care. In reality, most CPCs do not provide full options counseling and generally will not refer for abortion care or birth control. CPCs engaged in deceptive advertising practices have intentionally placed advertisements under the "abortion services" heading of phone and Internet directories, chosen names that are similar to abortion clinics to confuse women about what types of services they provide, and posted misleading advertisements about the types of services and referrals that they provide.
Women who mistakenly visit deceptive CPCs describe being harassed, intimidated, and given blatantly false information at their appointments. Rep. Henry Waxman released a study last year which found that 87% of the federally funded centers surveyed provided false or misleading information about the health effects of abortion, including the link between abortion and breast cancer, the effect of abortion on future fertility and the mental health effects of abortion. Deceptive CPCs have also been known to make misleading statements to women about birth control methods, including claims that emergency contraception is an abortifacient and that condoms are ineffective both at preventing unintended pregnancy and at protecting against HIV.
These types of CPCs should not be permitted to engage in deliberate attempts to divert women away from receiving abortion care by capitalizing on their confusion. The "Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act," which was recently reintroduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to ensure that CPCs do not engage in deceptive advertising practices...
We look forward to working with you to ensure that women are able to make informed decisions and access medically accurate information about their reproductive health care options.
Sincerely,
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Advocates for Youth
American Medical Women's Association
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Center for Inquiry
Center for Reproductive Rights
Feminist Majority
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America
Jewish Women International
Legal Momentum
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Abortion Federation
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health
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National Council of Jewish Women
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Health Law Program
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Network of Abortion Funds
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women's Health Network
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Reproductive Health Technologies Project
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)
Union for Reform Judaism
Women of Reform Judaism |
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