Planned Parenthood

Asked by Anonymous

You may have heard about crisis pregnancy centers — sometimes also called pregnancy care centers, pregnancy resource centers, or fake clinics. Crisis pregnancy centers advertise information and medical services about pregnancy counseling, birth control, and STIs, but the services are limited and the information they give is usually not accurate. Their main goals are to pressure people not to get an abortion, and to spread misinformation about abortion, birth control, and sexual health. They often use lies, false medical information, and scare tactics, and they won’t give you the honest truth about all of your pregnancy or birth control options.

Crisis pregnancy centers usually try to hide their deceptive agenda. They often have names that sound like a real health center or doctor’s office, and they may be located very close to real health centers like Planned Parenthood — they do this to try to trick people into coming into the fake clinic instead. And they might list themselves on the internet and map apps as a “women’s health clinic,” “abortion alternatives,” “pregnancy resource center,” or “pregnancy help center.” They will sometimes even lie and say they’re an abortion clinic, even though they don’t provide abortion or tell you where you can get an abortion.

Some signs that a center won’t offer factual sexual and reproductive health care include:

• The staff may say negative things about abortion, birth control, condoms, or sex.
• They don’t provide condoms or other effective birth control methods like the pill, patch, ring, shot, IUD, or implant.
• They say judgmental things about sex before marriage.
• The staff isn’t clear over the phone about what services they do and don’t provide, and instead ask you to come in.
• They might not say whether they have trained doctors or nurses on staff.
• They won’t provide abortions and refuse to tell you where you can get an abortion.
• They may say abortion is illegal. (This isn’t true — abortion is legal in the US.)
• They may say you can “reverse” an abortion. (This isn’t true — you can’t reverse an abortion.)
• They may say abortion is unsafe, or that it leads to cancer, infertility, or mental health problems. (This isn’t true — abortion is one of the safest medical procedures available and it doesn’t increase your risk for cancer, infertility, or mental health problems.)

Probably the easiest way to know if a health center will provide trustworthy and factual care  is to call and ask about their services. (If you’re not able to call the health center yourself, you can ask a trusted friend to call.) If they say they don’t provide abortion or effective birth control methods (like the pill), and they won’t refer you to places that do, it’s probably a fake clinic. If they don’t give you clear information about their services over the phone, and try to make you come to the clinic in person, it’s probably a fake clinic. You can also look at the health center’s website — if you see some of the things from the list above, there’s a good chance it’s not a legitimate health center. If you’re at a health center and something feels off, it probably is. Trust your gut, and leave if you feel uncomfortable. Websites like exposefakeclinics.com, created by Abortion Access Front and partnering organizations, may also be able to help you figure out which clinics in your area are Crisis Pregnancy Centers.

Real health centers are clear and upfront about what services they offer — and they don’t pressure you to make certain decisions about sex, birth control, or pregnancy. Real sexual and reproductive health centers give you the truth about all of your options, without scare tactics or judgment, so you can decide for yourself what’s right for you.

Even if you aren’t near a Planned Parenthood health center, we have resources to help you cut through some of the misinformation and bias you may get when it comes to your sexual and reproductive health. With our Chat/Text program, you can have live conversations with trained health educators who can share personalized, factual information and resources about everything from birth control to pregnancy — no matter where you live. You can chat from our website at PlannedParenthood.org/chat or text “PPNOW” to 774636 (PPINFO) to get answers, without shame or stigma.