Sorry if this is a long post. I wanted to share.

I actually went to CPC a few weeks ago to get "inside scoops" on them, as there is one about two miles from my campus - and the strategically placed theirs close to one of our Planned Parenthood as to create confusion ...

Pretending that I had somehow got a freshman pregnant and was seeking information, I was able to sit down and talked with them, next to the little models of fetusus and what not. Seeing me looking at one, the lady said, "Neat, aren't they? At two weeks the heart start to beat."

I am not going to post about the whole event, but below are a few quotes I got from her.

"In reality, you have up until the day before birth if you want to have an abortion," she said. "Sick as it is, the baby is partially given birth to and then its brain collapsed."

"Well, there are always risks to abortions, and unfortunately, we don't have the numbers because abortion is such a lucrative industry, so the numbers aren't given out to us." (Uh - really lucrative, right? Tell that to guys like Dr. George Tiller, who have been shot at, his clinics burned down just to save women's lives).

She went on to explain that the risks of abortion are plentiful, to include deaths, in that abortions are sometimes performed by those who aren't doctors and that even the "abortion pill" might be harmful because it leaves the fetus inside sometimes.

"They say that after taking the pill, there might be some discharge. In reality, it's the baby," she said.

"Some women want to look at the baby before they go through the process, I don't know why," she said.

Another risk for abortions, she said, is that sometimes, the abortion is "incomplete," thus women will suffer from complications. Even if they are rushed to the hospital, they won't likely tell the doctors about the abortion, out of embarrassment, and might die as a result.

"Because deep down inside, she knows it's the killing of a baby, and doesn't want to admit that fact," she said. "No one wants the stigma of having killed your child."

As for birth control?

"Birth control isn't always realible. They're chemicals, and will affect the body dramatically, because if you look at it, humans are made to create families. When you put something in your body to go against that, there will be complications."

Marc

Ugh, Marc, that is just so disgusting. How did you not flip out and start screaming at them???

I see ads for some CPC on the subway all the time with a forlorn looking Latina woman pictured. They infuriate me and I want to rip them down! If I'm ever alone in a subway car I'm vandalizing that shit.

Ugh, I'm getting all worked up just thinking about it.

WOW - thanks for the info, Marc. The worst part is that the woman you got that from probably believes every word of that.

I actually have a Women in American Politics class later today and I'd really like to bring this up - does anyone have any advice on how to bring the subject up? I mean, I want to just be able to say that we should call our representatives (especially since we were recently looking at studies about women being less likely than men to do things like contact their representatives, but more likely to vote) but I'm not looking to argue with the people in my class who I know are less than aware about things like this and could conceivably start shit. (I'm all for discussions, but there are certain people that won't listen and will just waste class time pushing their own agendas, since they'll likely feel like I'm doing the same.)

Any ideas?

Wow Marc. The worst part about your experience is that I'm not the least bit surprised. A friend and I were planning on doing the exact same thing. We were going to go to various CPC centers posing either as a young woman scared because she's pregnant or worried that she's pregnant and try to expose however much BS we possibly can. The REALLY sad part was when I googled my city and "Crisis Preganacy" no less than a dozen showed up. That's compared to like 3 Planned Parenthood clinics in my entire city with only one of them offering abortion services.

Marc, I am impressed you were able to sit through that with a straight face and without punching her.

I probably would have said something like "was abortion a lucrative business for Barnett Slepian?" But I can imagine the reponse that would have gotten...something about how he had asked for it by killing innocent babies or something.

Also, I'm jealous that the banner ad works on this site. I tried to post it on my blog and all I got was an empty box where the picture should have been. *shakes fist*

Thank you for your support on this issue Vanessa!

It's things like crisis pregnancy centers that make the rest of the world think we're crazy. And the fact that our tax dollars go to the funding of these abominations is an outrage. I guess that's the kind of tax fund allocation we can expect when we collectively elect an evangelical Christian to office not once, but twice. Apparently, America stands up for ignorance.

Where is the logic in our sex laws?

P.S. Marc, I congratulate you on your strength in stifling both your laughter and your gag reflex.

Five weeks after LMP, the heart begins to beat. This is three weeks after conception, and approximately one week after the mother should have started her period.

Abortionists must be very careful to remove all of the fetal body parts from the mother's uterus during surgery. If parts remain, they can cause horrible infections.

When abortionists perform late-term abortions (D&X), they must reassemble the foetus outside of the mother's body to ensure that they have removed all of it. Now, if you don't understand that the National Abortion Federation recognises this practice as necessary to prevent serious risk to a woman's health, I'm not sure how much I can help you.

2% of women who take RU-486 have such severe haemorrhage as to require surgical intervention. Sometimes, it will not cause complete explusion of the embryo.

The "discharge" is, in fact, the embryo, placenta, and uterine tissue. So yes, that "discharge" does include a human being.

In the last 30 years, only four abortionists have been killed. Yes, that is four too many; however, that means that it's roughly 20 times as safe to be an abortionist as it is to be a pilot. I bet pilots don't earn a lot of money because it's dangerous... wait a minute.

Abortion is a $1 billion/year industry. I fail to see how a $400 procedure that takes 10 minutes is not "lucrative." Sorry, folks - it's big money.

"In reality, you have up until the day before birth if you want to have an abortion," she said. "Sick as it is, the baby is partially given birth to and then its brain collapsed."
That is a correct statement about Roe v. Wade. Under Roe, there are only moderate limits that states may place upon second and third-trimester abortions. States may not place any limits on first-trimester abortions.

She correctly described a partial-birth abortion, in which the unborn child - whoops, fetus - is presented in the breech birth position. Its skull is collapsed when the abortionist opens up the base of it and suctions its brains out. (If that makes you cringe, consider what you are supporting.)

Facts suck, don't they?

Wow. Thanks for the information guys. I know it's easy to get really pissed off about these CPCs, because they're rediculous, but we're ignoring the really cool part: people are doing something about it! I think this proposed bill is awesome and I e-mailed my senator tonight as well as putting this page on Digg. I hope all of you will wrtie your senators too because this shit needs to stop!

Little article about Slepian's murder for everyone.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/04/17/abortion/

Let's zoom in on the line "His children watched him bleed to death from the shot in his back, which came from the woods behind the house."

Oenophile - I don't doubt (and I certainly don't know from a woman's standpoint or the stand point of one who's had an abortion) that it can be a dramatic experience. But the thing is, we've not responsible for making decisions for women who are pregnant, we are there to support them and giving them the facts so they can make their own decisions, rather than trying to sway them one way or another.

Your beliefs don't matter when it comes to women making their own decisions, nor do mine. Our responsibility is to give facts, and to give them choices, not to influence them to make these choices.

You act as though Planned Parenthood and other organizations don't give women the facts of abortions.

We don't want women to have abortions - we want women to make the choices they think it's best for them, and sometimes, it's an abortion. Unlike the CPCs, we don't MAKE decisions for women. We give them choices and support their decisions.

One for thing, Onephile - abortion isn't really lucrative. Check your facts before you make idiotic comments like that. Fact is, compared to the thousands of other things Planned Parenthood promotes, abortions make up less than 10 percent. To label something "lucrative," someone has to be making money off it first - I don't know, like the ciggy industry.

The fact that many clinics are suffering from lack of funding, having to cut back on other services, and unable to give free examinations to women on matters that affect their health, is the proof that you are wrong. Until Planned Parenthood people are driving Benzes, you have no room in saying abortion doctors make money ...THEY DON'T!

I guess not everyone who poses on feministing as a regular is pro-choice. You so-called pro-life feminists make me laugh. Yeah, go on and fight for our "unborn sisters." We have women's lives we have to save, because really, pro-choice IS pro-women. You, on the other hand, are only pro-women when they make decisions you believe is best for them.

Delah - a few things about your question regarding what to do about CPCs: if you have a Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance on your campus, get with them and see what they want to do. The FMF, through FMLA, is taking a stand against this.

A few ways to combat it include (of course) letters to the editor, doing an expose about them for your campus paper, sending people out to these clinics and protest their actions telling people they are not a real clinic, and meeting with your local newspapers. Some newspapers are carrying ads for these clinics, and if you can make an argument that these ads are unfair and unsafe for women, and get a coalition behind you, this helps greatly. Especially look for these ads in campus newspapers, because they try to target young women as well as immigrant women who do not speak English very well.

"In the last 30 years, only four abortionists have been killed. Yes, that is four too many; however, that means that it's roughly 20 times as safe to be an abortionist as it is to be a pilot."

oenophile - screw you. Only four have died, but how many others have been shot at, stabbed, threatened and attacked with garden shears? Do you have idea what it's like to fear for your life and for your family every day because of the job you do?

The doctor at the clinic where I work was forced to leave her family practice because of threats from anti-choice activists - this in a province where we are desperately short on family doctors. Her life and the lives of her husband and children have been threatened repeatedly. She receives patronizing and judgemental cards every Christmas and Mother's Day.

Some of our nurses have been followed to their homes. None of our staff and patients can enter the clinic without being threatened and harrassed by middle-aged men. Maybe four doctors have died, but EVERY abortion doctor, nurse and clinic staff member fears for their safety. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

So next time you feel like belittling the danger faced by abortion providers, why don't you go take a flying leap instead, because you will never understand the kind of courage it takes to do that job.

"2% of women who take RU-486 have such severe haemorrhage as to require surgical intervention."

"It is safer to have an abortion than it is to go through labor and delivery. A first trimester abortion is 11.8 times safer than childbirth."

http://www.hopeclinic.com/FAQ.htm

ProFeminist Male:"In reality, you have up until the day before birth if you want to have an abortion," she said...."

Oenophile: "That is a correct statement about Roe v. Wade. Under Roe, there are only moderate limits that states may place upon second and third-trimester abortions."

I call bullshit. Under Roe v. Wade, in the third trimester, states can restrict abortion as they see fit unless it conflicts with a woman's health/life....which is moot now since Gonzales v. Carhart left no exception for women's health.

"The Court ruled (in Roe v. Wade) that the state cannot restrict a woman's right to an abortion during the first trimester, the state can regulate the abortion procedure during the second trimester "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health", and the state can choose to restrict or proscribe abortion as it sees fit during the third trimester when the fetus is viable ("except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother")."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade

I see ads for some CPC on the subway all the time with a forlorn looking Latina woman pictured. They infuriate me and I want to rip them down! If I'm ever alone in a subway car I'm vandalizing that shit.

MyBabyPanda, I see those ads, too, and wonder what the MTA is thinking in letting the centers advertise on its trains.

(718) 330-3322 is the NYCTA's complaints phone number. I suggest any New Yorker in here who's riled by those ads call and complain about them.

I've also thought about printing up some big stickers to put on those ads, saying something to the effect of: "This is bull. Anti-choice fear-mongering in crisis center clothing is still anti-choice fear-mongering. For real facts and help, contact Planned Parenthood." Because it's not just that those ads don't need to be there; it's that helpful na unbiased information for women with unplanned and potentially unwanted pregnancies do need to be.

Is oenophile Bill O’Reilly?

“Planned Parenthood [the provider of the majority of America’s abortions] is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, with a policy of providing services irrespective of income.”

http://mediamatters.org/items/200510130009

It is about providing health care to people who wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise not “big money.”