My visit to a CPC -- By: Kelli -- 15 November 2001,

The Approach
This CPC identifies itself as a "pregnancy center" in their commercial, which features a pretty young girl looking seriously into the camera and saying, "I'm almost two months pregnant. What'll my parents think? What'll my friends think? I need somebody to talk to - I need to know what my options are." Fade to a voice-over "X Pregnancy Center - free pregnancy tests - call [gives phone number]"

This morning I called and said, "Hi, do ya'll give free pregnancy tests?" "We sure do. Can I make you an appointment?" I did so and arrived at the appointed time.

I was given a form by a grandmotherly type which had a long couple of paragraphs that boiled down to the fact that their pregnancy tests test for the hormone HCG in the urine to determine pregnancy. No surprise there; that's how all those pregnancy tests work. But after a very long and detailed couple of paragraphs about it, waay down at the bottom it said something like, "I understand this is a CPC, not a medical facility, and I will not be receiving medical advice." I signed.

I was shown into a powder pink bathroom and given a specimen cup. The grandmotherly type said after I filled it to just wait in [indicated adjacent door] here.

Just The Facts - For Our Records
That room was powder blue and very cramped. In about five minutes, the grandmotherly type came in with another form. She started asking questions which were expected, like when the first day of my last period was, was it normal, were my periods regular, stuff like that, and marking my answers. She also noted the name, address, zip code, and phone number I gave her. Then she asked who was my employer. I said, "excuse me, what do you need to know that for?" She said, "Oh, it's just for our records, dear." Then she asked questions like what was my living situation, if the "baby's" father was in my life, how long we'd been seeing each other, how close was our relationship, what I would do if I was pregnant (I said most likely have an abortion), did I had family in town, how was my relationship with my family, what church did I go to and what were my spiritual beliefs. A couple more times during the questioning I asked again what was the purpose of these questions. I was reassured, "it's just routine for our records," and, "we keep this information very confidential, dear." Finally I said, "Look ma'am, are my test results ready? I really just came here for the free pregnancy test." She said, "Oh, I don't think it's ready yet." I looked annoyed and she said, "Let me go check on that."

After another long stretch she poked her head in the door and said, "Could you follow me, please?" She led me to a slightly bigger room (powder pink again) with a TV and VCR. Time for the film. She said, "Did you know there are 8 different types of abortion?" as she was putting the tape in the machine. I said, "Look I've got a lot to do today. If I can just have my test results, I can decide for myself what to do, okay?" She said, "They're not ready yet." I said, "the ones you can get at any store are ready in 1-3 minutes." "Uhmm. I'll be right back," she sort of mumbled.

It's For Your Own Good
The film was apparently going to go through every type of abortion technique possible, starting with a computer image rendering of a suction-aspiration, when the grandmotherly type came back in with several pamphlets. Obviously annoyed, I said, "I'm not interesting in watching this." The lady said I had a "right" to know what risks abortion entailed. I said I was perfectly aware of that fact, and that was something I would certainly discuss with my doctor if necessary. She got the tape out and gave it to me, asking me to watch it at home. (I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet.)

Then she gave me some pamphlets. One is a tract inviting me to meet the lady's "Best friend, Jesus Christ, and receive His presence." It lists several "Bible Verses to Read." (I guess the lady wasn't listening during the initial question session when I told her she'd, "better put me down as a rationalist" for my "spiritual belief.")

Informed Consent = Litigation Preparation
One claims to be an "Abortion disclosure form." It says, "The Following Must Be Completed By Physician Performing the Abortion: 

• Name
• Name of Facility where Procedure Will be Performed
• City and State where Facility is Located
• Name of Malpractice Insurance Company
• State Where Insurance Company is Located
• Policy Number
• $ Policy Limit
• Name of Nearest Trauma Center or Emergency Hospital
• Location of this Trauma Center or Emergency Hospital"
• And there's a space for the doc's signature and the date.

Ye Olde Terror Tactics
A couple of them maintain they are about "Complications of Abortion." One is short. It has a quote, 

"In medical practice, there are few surgical procedures given so little attention and so underrated in its potential hazards as abortion. It is a commonly held view that complications are inevitable.
-Abortionist Warren Hern," 

"Complications:

• Excessive bleeding
• Puncture and tearing of the womb (uterus)
• Infection from mild to fatal (sometimes parts of the baby are left in the womb)
• Cervical laceration in 5% of women
• Hepatitis, from blood transfusions, blood clots, and embolisms
• Sterility, ranging from 2% to 5% of abortions
• Guilt and personality disturbances
• In future desired pregnancies:
• Miscarriage
• Premature delivery because of damage to the cervix
• Tubal Pregnancies

 

This pamphlet also drags out the old breast cancer canard, stating, "An abortion during high estrogen levels in the early months of pregnancy predisposes a woman to getting breast cancer. In fact, a full-term pregnancy early in a woman's reproductive life is protective against breast cancer."

The other pamphlet is actually a small booklet, titled, "Abortion: Some Medical Facts." It opens with, "Before you decide to have an abortion or advise someone else to have one, get the facts straight. There are alternatives that may be safer and healthier - both physically and emotionally - for you and your baby. No doubt an unwanted pregnancy can cause intense stress and hardship in a variety of ways, but, as you'll read in this booklet, the medical evidence is clear - the physical and psychological effects of abortion can be far worse. Nine short months of pregnancy is a relatively small cost to pay in light of a lifetime of potential physical and mental health problems. Think about it." It goes on to basically repeat the above complications with more verbiage.

The Long Five Minutes Continues 
At the time I didn't really do more than quickly glance at this stuff. I said I was pretty tired of waiting for my test results, and if they STILL weren't ready, maybe I'd just bust out the ten buck at the grocery store and get one myself. The lady said she'd be right back with them. She came back and - surprise -, it was ready this time. I'm pregnant. (In reality, my husband and I planned this pregnancy and are very happy about it.)

She started telling me abortion would be killing a human being, and that everyone at the pregnancy center would "pray" for me. I said, "What tangible support could this center give me?" She said something about doing "whatever they could," which certainly sounded vague to me. I said, "Could you hook me up with resources like medicaid?" Again, she said something vague like, "Oh, we offer a lot of different services." I said, "You seem to have given me a lot of material about the risks of abortion. Surely you also have information about the risks of childbirth, right? The grandmotherly type lady said, "uhh, hmmm. Yes, certainly, let me go get what I have on that." She left and came back with two more pamphlets, "Is This Really Happening To Me?" and, "Struggling With A Crisis Pregnancy: Four Personal Stories," neither of which, as one can guess, have so much as a sentence about complications or risks of childbirth. I asked, "Are you saying abortion is physically riskier than childbirth." The lady said, "Oh, yes. Millions of women are injured or killed by abortion." Again, to be perfectly clear, I said, "You're telling me legal abortion carries more risk than childbirth?" She said, "Yes, it does." I said I'd like to see some statistics to prove that contention. She insisted it was true and they had the statistics "somewhere around here." By now I was getting bored.

I left but didn't get too far out the door before I decided to see what would happen if I asked for my personal information back. I went back in and politely asked if it would be possible for me to have my information sheet. A different (slightly younger but still grandmotherly type) now sitting at the desk said, "what information?" I said, "that long sheet containing my personal information that she [indicating the woman who'd "counseled" me who'd now appeared] took down." Younger grandma let older grandma handle it, who asked, "Why do you want that back?" I said I just wasn't comfortable with them having it. She said, "Well, it's for our records." I said, "well, it's about ME and I don't want this facility to have it." Older grandma went to get the "director."

Using the Big Guns
She was an attractive woman who looked to be in her thirties. She asked why I wanted the information. Again, I repeated I just wasn't comfortable with them having it. She asked, "Why not?" I said, "Look, you folks are obviously in the business of discouraging people from having abortions, and I'm not comfortable with you having personal information about me." She directed older grandma to "go get her file" and asked again, "why not?" I said, "because extremists with similar views have proven to be dangerous people, and I don't want any of my personal information in a facility that shares the political goals of such extremists. Period." She said, "Are you calling us extremists?" I said, "No - but I want my personal information out of here." Now holding what could've been my information, she said, "Well, look, I'll shred it, okay? You can listen to the shredder (which was out of my line of vision in an office behind her) shred it up right now, okay?" Since I hadn't given them any genuine identifying information anyway, I said, "Okay, I'd appreciate that." And she stepped into the office leaving the door open, and apparently shredded the papers she'd been holding.

Credible sources but dubious facts.
She came back out and said, "Did you know there are eight different methods of abortion?" I asked, "In use in the first trimester?" She blinked and said, "Well, no." I said, "Than it isn't really relevant to me, is it?" I decided to push a little, and said, "I noticed your literature says there's an increased risk of breast cancer. I know for a fact that for every study you could point to, I could show you two that demonstrate no link." She said, "Well, we feel abortion is unsafe. And we just want you to have all the information that's out there. Did you know abortion causes emotional problems years down the line?" I said, "No professional medical body such as the AMA supports that position." She said, "Oh, yes, research shows post abortion syndrome is a type of post traumatic stress disorder." I said, "Once again, I know for a fact that no study with adequately rigorous scientific standards and methodology has demonstrated such a thing, and that actually the opposite has been shown." The three ladies just looked at me. I said, "You know, she [indicating older grandma] told me you guys had statistics proving abortion is riskier than childbirth. I'd like to see those statistics, if only for my own entertainment." The director rather tightly said there were some citations from "the New England Journal of Medicine" in my "Abortion: Some Medical Facts" booklet. (When recounting my tale to my husband, at this point he laughed and said, "come on, they must've figured out you were a ringer by then!" Heh – could be.)

Freedom - For me at least
Having seen all I wanted, I was ready to leave. I smiled big and said, "Anyway, thanks again for shredding my information - I really appreciate it!" I'm not imagining the strain in the smile of the director as she said, "You're welcome."