From Stark:
State Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-40th, is among 17 sponsors of SB 5274, which would regulate the operations of “pregnancy centers” maintained by pro-life groups that encourage women not to choose abortions. A similar proposal is HB 1366 in the House.
Pro-choice advocates contend that these centers masquerade as health clinics and promote their anti-abortion agenda to women who should be getting information about all their legal and medical options.
According to NARAL, a national pro-choice group, the bill:
- Requires the centers to disclose that they do not provide service or referrals for abortion or comprehensive birth control and that they do not provide medical care for pregnant women.
- Requires the centers to keep any medical information they collect private.
- Requires the centers to provide pregnancy test results immediately.
The groups operating these centers argue that they are now providing millions of dollars’ worth of pregnancy testing and counseling to women in need, and that the provisions of the bill create potentially threatening civil liability for them. Among other things, the bill authorizes civil suits from women who contend they were damaged by the center’s activities, and give courts the power to triple any actual damages awarded.
Here’s the official summary of the bill.
Here’s the case in favor of the bill, from NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.
Here’s a negative view of the bill from a pro-life website, LifeNews.com
Jared, John,
You guys have a droll wit! Your blog’s table of contents links at 5:30 PM on Monday was:
Politics
by John Stark & Jared Paben
Latest Posts:
* Pregnancy center regulation bill stirs up abortion debate
* «details»
* Bill would set standards for treatment of egg-laying hens
And I haven’t even had a glass of wine yet!
Thanks for brightening-up my day.
Abe Jacobson
Bellingham
haha, I wouldn’t have even noticed. The “details” was just because I forgot to put a headline on the second post. The first and third ones in that list were totally by chance.
Some energetic journalist should thoroughly investigate the sources of funding these centers are using to provide all this religiously inspired and politically motivated “pregnancy testing and counseling.”
How much of their funding comes from government?
How much of it is an extension under the Obama Administration of President Bush’s “faith-based” funding initiatives?
How much of their funding has resulted from federal legislation, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which in addition to including a thinly veiled effort to fight street prostitution, has spent about a billion dollars on a host of initiatives, from Christian-based hooker outreach programs to fusion centers to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies?
Todd: I would be surprised if there were federal funds involved at any level. Why do you think they have such a huge locally grown based of private funding? Speaking from my exposure to the local clinic, they are staffed by 1) volunteers who are not authorized to give out medical advice of any kind, 2) a paid director and 3) a fully state-credentialed nurse. There are usually also local doctors who volunteer time for clients of the centers.
You have no idea how hard the majority of these clinics work to make sure they are both honest and interested in maintaining a complete set of information for all clients. They are under constant threat from fake clients who are simply there to catch them proselytizing or breaking the law. Fact is, this bill is a farce. It implies that there are people being fooled into avoiding a terminated pregnancy. That’s ridiculous. The vast majority of the centers nationwide self-regulate to the point where the three standards listed in this post are already met.
I totally agree that the centers should not be about pressure tactics or proselytizing. I personally know staff members who have watched people walk out the door to go have an abortion after hearing their options at the clinic — that’s the world we live in. The staff know that in order for them to provide a legitimate service to the community (supporting those who , they have to live by a set of professional standards that are seasoned by a healthy dose of compassion.
If you have a problem with what pregnancy centers do, it’s up to you to find out for yourself what happens in your own town. Visit for yourself and see how they work. You’ll find they have nothing to hide.
Just more of the same old tired Religion Poisoning Everything…
Boehner should just shut up and have a merlot and the pachyderms should leave things up to the adults… and all women wouldn’t be a bad start…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/whats-behind-the-drive-to-redefine-rape_n_816967.html