Maine reproductive health centers staffed by doctors who provide medical care including contraception, exams, and abortion are facing defunding, while religiously-funded crisis pregnancy centers — that do not have actual doctors and do not have to follow patient privacy laws — are hoping to fill those spots, notes The Maine Monitor:
The centers aren’t bound to the same oversight as doctor’s offices and are often connected to religious organizations that oppose abortion…
Some centers may provide appropriate information. Nationally, however, many have misinformed women, forced them to sit through religious programming for baby supplies, declined to provide information or referrals for birth control, and used sonograms to attempt to persuade women to avoid abortion, according to national news reports.
…These nonprofit organizations offer a limited range of services directed toward pregnant women and may make claims about abortion that are not supported by medical studies. They are small and largely run by one or two paid staff members, in addition to volunteers.
But they maintain a medical-looking appearance, belying the fact that they are often connected to national or global religious organizations, and do not perform or refer for abortions.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes that Crisis Pregnancy Centers are decieving women and placing lives in danger:
[Crisis Pregnancy Centers] is a term used to refer to certain facilities that represent themselves as legitimate reproductive health care clinics providing care for pregnant people but actually aim to dissuade people from accessing certain types of reproductive health care, including abortion care and even contraceptive options.
Staff members at these unregulated and often nonmedical facilities have no legal obligation to provide pregnant people with accurate information and are not subject to HIPAA or required by law to maintain client confidentiality. Many CPCs are affiliated with national organizations that provide funding, support, and training to advance a broadscale antiabortion agenda.i
…These methods make it harder for people to get reliable information about an important decision that will affect their health and their lives. By using deception, delay tactics, and disinformation, CPC staffs undermine the tenets of informed consent and patient autonomy and impede access to comprehensive, ethical care.
By using deception, delay tactics, and disinformation, CPC staffs undermine the tenets of informed consent and patient autonomy and impede access to comprehensive, ethical care.
(Sources: The Maine Monitor, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Image: NEWS CENTER Maine)