President Obama’s budget released two weeks ago didn’t exactly thrill many of us concerned about a women’s right to choose. Obama failed to rescind the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits government funds from covering abortion services. This means that many low-income women are not able to have an abortion, simply due to the fact that they cannot afford it.
As truly disappointing as this is, I must also say that the president’s new budget does strike a significant financial blow to the radical anti-choice movement. When Obama zeroed out Title V and CBAE, effectively ending funding for abstinence-only programs, he eliminated the multi-million dollar subsidizing of radical “pregnancy crisis centers” all over the country *. (Though we still face a threat that Congress will try to slip this funding back in… be sure to let your representatives know that we can’t allow this to happen )
What are these “crisis centers” that have received hundreds of millions of dollars in abstinence-only funding over the last decade? They are basically fronts to deceive and scare pregnant women out of having an abortion, masked as a “professional medical facility” giving pregnant women treatment and options. Invariably, among the many programs all over the country, this is what pregnant women are told:
- having an abortion will probably give you breast cancer
- having an abortion is dangerous, and it will hurt your ability to have a child in the future
- having an abortion will give you “Post Abortion Syndrome”, which will make you severely depressed or suicidal.
- if you have an abortion, you will be acting against the will of God/Jesus
These first 3 points are, of course, blatant lies that have repeatedly debunked and discredited by the medical scientific community.
To back up their abortion-breast cancer link, every one of these groups cite a old 1994 study, neglecting to include that this study had been repeatedly debunked by everyone peer-reviewed in the field. Their “Post-Abortion Syndrome” is quite literally a social conservative invention that has been universally debunked by scientists . The claim that abortion will damage you so severely that you won’t be able to have children in the future or will die is nothing but a hollow scare tactic.
As for their claim that abortion will have the spiritual consequence of angering God and sending you to hell…. well, I’m still not sure how these groups have been able to take our tax dollars so they can dole out this information under the guise of medical advice in a country that has separation of church and state. But they certainly have been able to.
So, let’s just take a little tour around the country and have a look at some specific examples of these taxpayer subsidized “pregnancy crisis centers”. This is in no way a comprehensive look at all of the horrors of these organizations, just a slice of what some of them represent themselves as on their websites.
Abortion and Breast Cancer
Virtually every one of these organizations’ website cites the 1994 study, claiming that having an abortion will increase your chances of breast cancer by 50%, and that “carrying to full term gives you protection against breast cancer that cannot be gained if abortion is chosen”. But many of these sites go much, much further.
Federally funded groups in North Dakota , Michigan and Virginia all claim that “a number of studies” have shown these “facts” to be the case, though none of them bother to cite these “studies”.
The Pregnancy Centers of Central Virginia claims that “in over 35 studies to date, nearly 80% of them show a definitive link between abortion and breast cancer”. Again, none of them are cited. They received $2.6 million in CBAE grants over the past 4 years, and were set to receive $2.7 million more over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In South Dakota, The Alpha Center goes further, claiming that “11 out of 12 studies in the United States, and 25 out of 31 studies worldwide, showed that women who experienced an induced abortion had an increased risk of breast cancer”. They were set to receive $3 million in CBAE grants over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In Florida, a group called (I kid you not) “A Woman’s Place Ministries ”, claims that women who have an abortion at 18 or younger have a significantly increased chance of breast cancer. They received over $3 million in CBAE grants over the last 4 years, and were set to receive $3 million more over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In Ohio, Elizabeth New Life Center (the employer of Derek Dye the Abstinence Clown ) makes the absurd claim that having an abortion increases your chance of having breast cancer by 800%, especially if you are woman of color. They received $3.2 million in CBAE grants over the last 4 years, and were set to receive $3 million more over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In Arizona, the Crisis Pregnancy Centers of Tucson ‘s homepage links approvingly to a “study” by a radical pro-lifer who purports that abortion definitely causes breast cancer (as well as one that says that the HPV vaccine is dangerous). They were set to receive $3 million in CBAE grants over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In Alaska, the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Anchorage links approving to three radical right-wing groups masquerading as medical experts on breast cancer, all of whom say that it has been definitely proven that abortion causes breast cancer. They received $2.7 million in CBAE grants over the last 4 years, and were set to receive $1.8 million more over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
Missouri’s Laclede County Pregnancy Support Center says that “an analysis of all reputable studies to date” proves their abortion-breast cancer link. But their Title V funding has been eliminated in Obama’s new budget.
What you won’t find anywhere on these organizations’ websites are all of the peer-reviewed studies in the field by independent researchers that find absolutely no link between abortion and breast cancer.
But with their federal funding stream eliminated, these folks will have to deceive young women on their own dime from now on.
“Post-Abortion Syndrome”
Here’s a rundown of the psychological symptoms that virtually every one of these “crisis centers” tells young women that they can expect if they have an abortion, all caused by their invented “Post Abortion Syndrome”:
Guilt, anger, rage, depression, suicidal thoughts, suicidal impulses, “anniversary grief”, flashbacks of abortion, sexual dysfunction, relationship problems, eating disorders, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, psychological reactions, reliving the abortion, frequently thinking about the abortion, tension, emotional numbness, sleeplessness, nightmares, fear of others finding out about the abortion, avoidance of intimate relationships, preoccupation with becoming pregnant again, anxiety over fertility or childbearing issues, difficulty bonding with babies and children, sadness, fear of God’s punishment, inability to forgive, denial, feelings of loss, low self-esteem, shame, secrecy, isolation, repeat abortions, self-destructiveness, regret, emptiness, avoidance, intrusion, moodiness, frequent crying spells, memory repression and hallucinations.
Wow, sounds pretty scary, doesn’t it? Well, the fact that the scientific community has repeatedly debunked this myth hasn’t stopped these organizations from providing a good scare to young women considering their options.
A Women’s Place Ministries in Florida goes further, explaining why research to debunk this invented syndrome doesn’t exist:
“Abortion activists don’t research this because it would undermine their position”.
Actually, “abortion activists” leave it to the scientific community, and they have debunked it repeatedly. But hey, why let “science” ruin a good myth that can scare women, right?
“Spiritual consequences”
These federally funded “crisis centers” don’t stop at just the physical and psychological effects of abortion. No, they are sure to tell young women that if they choose to end their pregnancy, they are acting against the will of God/Jesus, and there will be “spiritual/moral consequences”. That’s were these groups come in to proselytize and guilt young women.
Federally funded groups in Alaska , Arizona , North Dakota and Virginia all cite an identical paragraph under “spiritual consequences” of abortion:
“People have different understandings of God. Whatever your present beliefs may be, there is a spiritual side to abortion that deserves to be considered. Having an abortion may affect more than just your body and your mind—it may have an impact on your relationship with God. What is God's desire for you in this situation? How does God see your unborn child? These are important questions to consider.”
A Woman’s Place Ministries in Florida warns women that one of the effects of “Post Abortion Syndrome” is “fear of God’s punishment”.
In Missouri, the “Director of Post-Abortive Ministries” at The Woman’s Clinic of Kansas City tells her story about how she had an abortion, and learned that God is against it:
"This pain went on until I received Jesus as my personal Savior. God reached out to me with His grace and mercy and began to deliver me from all the anguish. I believe my deliverance was to serve a purpose; which is to minister to women who have experienced the emotional, spiritual, and physical affects of abortion. God desires to heal your broken heart, to free you from your captivity, to release you from your prison of shame, and to comfort you in your mourning. Most of all, He longs to offer you forgiveness."
This group received $3 million in CBAE grants over the last 4 years, and were set to receive $2.6 million more over the next 5 years. Not anymore.
Also in Missouri, the Laclede County Pregnancy Support Center warns women “do not abort your conscience/values” by having an abortion, also advising them to tell the doctor that you “can’t kill your baby” if the doctor is trying to make “a quick cash sale” by performing an abortion.
In Colorado, Life Network lets everyone know what they are all about in their mission statement:
“Life Network is a sanctity of human life ministry that impacts and transforms people with the love of Christ.”
They achieve this by:
- Actively representing and presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Encouraging, equipping and partnering with the local body of Christ to promote sexual integrity, the value of human life and restoration of the family unit.
They were set receive $2 million in CBAE grants over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In Illinois, the mission statement of CareNet Pregnancy Services of DuPage is as follows:
“Our vision is to help build a culture of life in which every pregnant woman is offered the support she needs to choose life for her unborn baby. We also envision a future where people will be transformed by the Gospel and desire to live out their lives in accordance with God's design for sexuality… We know that none of these positive changes can occur unless we are first committed to sharing the love, hope, and truth of Jesus Christ, both in word and deed. In the words of Isaiah 61, Care Net and its network of pregnancy centers are truly committed to sharing the Good News”
CareNet was set to receive $2.5 million in CBAE grants over the next 5 years. But not anymore.
In Michigan, the mission statement of Lakeshore Pregnancy Center is as follows:
“Lakeshore Pregnancy Center is a Christ-centered ministry, responding to those in our community experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, emphasizing the eternal value of all human life and teaching Biblical sexuality.”
Lakeshore’s Title V funding is now gone.
In Arizona, the Crisis Pregnancy Centers of Phoenix states after a bible verse that “The measure of any civilized society is its commitment to the protection of the innocent.” Their Title V funding is now gone.
In South Carolina, the Palmetto Family Council states in a long letter on their website:
“Failing to recognize the image of God in the fertilized ovum results from a backward future orientation. A perspective beginning with adult human being and his abilities and looking back from the future on the embryo obscures the image of God in the embryo….
…`Now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.’ 59 Only into man does God breathe the breath of life so that he becomes a living soul. Only man is as the image of God. This soul, in the image of God, grants special status in creation to the ensouled human individual, regardless of the number of cells or the ability in the individual. Would that the imago might grasp the centrality of the soul and therein see through the moral spectacles from the perspective of promise.”
They received $1.2 million in CBAE grants over the last 2 years, and were set to receive $2.4 million over the next 4 years. But not anymore.
I mention once more, all of these groups will now have to proselytize and put the fear of God in young women on their own dime.
Where we go from here
In short, our tax dollars have been subsidizing evangelical, blatantly dishonest scare tactics against young women. Fortunately, that is a thing of the past.
*Or is it?
Last week an Obama Administration official said to a reporter that abstinence-only programs might be able to slip into the $25 million due to go to “innovative and promising models” of teen pregnancy prevention. While one would think that these phony “pregnancy crisis centers” would not qualify for these funds, we can’t be entirely sure. We must remain vigilant and keep the pressure up on Congress to not let any of these funds go to these failed ideological abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
And once we’re able to accomplish this….. the Hyde Amendment is next .
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"if you have an abortion, you will be acting against the will of God/Jesus"
You can't murder your child, only God gets to do that!/fundie
Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. -- Hosea 13:16
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. -- Psalm 137:9
Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Isaiah 13: 16
Those are all actual Bible verse, incidentally
No one's disputing that those are actually Bible verses. This issue is that using federal funds to push those Bible verses on other people violates the Constitution.
I think the point Devonian is trying to make is that it is hypocritical for Christian fundamentalists to oppose abortion when the Bible contains passages that condone child-killing. Is this an accurate interpretation of what you wrote, Devonian?
I agree, though. Federal funds should not be used to promote a fundamentalist agenda, including these false "pregnancy crisis centers".
A. The government isn't "pushing" anything on us. We can still choose for ourselves.
B. If you have a problem with the Bible or a "Pregnancy Crisis Center" then don't visit either. It's your choice.
The problem with these pregancy crisis centers is that they are not open about their agenda. They are sometimes listed under 'abortion services' in the phone book, something that is clearly deceptive when they do not provide abortions or referals to abortion providers. Often the advertise 'free pregancy test' then subject the woman to a series of lectures or inaccurate pictures while waiting for the result. That is my problem with them: they lie to women and girls. I have a major problem with any organization that is deceptive.
Joan
Um, no - the whole point is that many women and girls don't have a choice. If one of these Bible-thumping supposed "medical" centers is the only one in your area, then you don't have a choice at all. I usually don't respond vehemently to comments on here, but what you're saying, Lowjacker, is extremely classist and stinking of privilege.
"Is this an accurate interpretation of what you wrote, Devonian?"
Yes.
I am very happy that you posted this article. As someone who was raised in a very strong Catholic family, it's scary to believe that people working in these "crisis pregnancy centers" are deliberately lying to people. Thank you.
Julia.... people on both sides of the argument have been lying for a long long time. Using their sensationalism is the only way to get attention.
Yeah, I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but I'd really like like to know what Lowjacker thinks the pro-choice side has been lying about "for years". Because it sounds to me like the anti-choicers got caught red-handed lying about the effects of abortion, so Lowjacker's response is just a vague, unsubstantiated charge of "Well you've been doing it, too!"
This comment has been deleted.
Does anyone moderate comments on the community site? And, can Feministing institute some sort of button I can click that says I *don't* like a comment?
Amen to that jellyleelips. Who moderates the community site? I'd love someone to moderate Lowjacker's comment.
Try the "report abuse" button.
I'm not sure that LowJacker is technically "abusing" the comments, but he (or less likely, she) is a troll.
because condoms never break, birth control always works, and rape never happens...
(sarcasm)
Good thing you're so into personal financial responsibility for one's actions, especially regarding health care. I don't suppose you have non-governmental insurance? Or enough money to take care of yourself and loved ones if they get sick?
I might be getting a bit ad hominem here (or feeding an obvious troll) but if you are actually serious, you might want to examine the privilege going into your statement.
(I also agree with previous posters about unplanned pregnancy != irresponsible, but they already handled that)
"In Missouri, the “Director of Post-Abortive Ministries” at The Woman’s Clinic of Kansas City tells her story about how she had an abortion, and learned that God is against it"
Classic. I wonder if Madame Director ever thinks about how her life would have changed if she hadn't had an abortion? How she would have been affected financially, physically, and emotionally? No matter what her blithering about saving young women from the physical and emotional pain of abortion, SHE STILL HAD ONE, and SHE STILL BENEFITTED FROM THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE THAT SHE WANTS TO TAKE AWAY FROM OTHER WOMEN. Some women regret their abortions. This is a fact. And women who believe abortion is wrong and need help managing an unplanned pregnancy deserve all the government-funded counseling they can get. But the leap of logic it takes to go from personal regret to assuming that EVERY woman MUST regret her abortion is truly astounding. I am so freaking happy the federal government will no longer be subsidizing this bullshit.
Great work! It's incredible to me (a Canadian) that any public money -- let alone vast quantities of it -- can go to lying liars like these.
We've got Crisis Pregnancy Centres too here, but they get no taxpayer dough.
Hi Amplify! I contacted my Senators in response to one of your campaigns. On Monday, I received the following reply from Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD):
"Dear ____:
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about federal funding for abstinence-only sexual education. I too am concerned with the inefficacy of abstinence-only programs, and have long supported a more balanced approach to sexual education that promotes scientifically accurate information about contraception, abstinence, and the risks of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy.
As a provision of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress mandated a federal evaluation of the Title V Abstinence-Only Education block grant program. The study, which was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., found that youth in abstinence-only programs were no more likely than control group youth to remain abstinent. Meanwhile, numerous studies have affirmed the effectiveness of a broad-based and balanced sexual education that teaches about the proper and responsible use of contraception as well as abstinence.
I will urge my colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services to spend our taxpayer dollars on more useful and science-based sexual education programs. Please be assured that I will also continue to fight against the encroachment of politics into policy decisions that should be based on the best available science.
I appreciate your letting me know of your interest in this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me again about this or any other issue of importance to you."
Wow! That's so great, thanks for sharing!
That's great to hear! Ditto to Amplify-Thanks for sharing that!
“Our vision is to help build a culture of life in which every pregnant woman is offered the support she needs to choose life for her unborn baby."
I think this quote bothers me almost more than the rest because of what it insinuates about people who are pro-choice. I also would like to live in a society in which every pregnant woman had the resources and support to CHOOSE to have a child without fear of not being able to support herself or the child. She should also be able to CHOOSE not to.
When women are forced into one choice, scared or coerced away with misinformation - this ceases to be a free choice and is in fact working against this goal. And perhaps more importantly, it sounds like this organization is mostly just trying to prevent abortions, which also does nothing to help this. If they were genuinely giving support to struggling mothers or mothers-to-be, I would be more sympathetic.
I definitely don't think that supporting mothers or soon-to-be mothers is somehow hindered by women who don't want to be mothers (or have any more children) having abortions. In fact, when a woman has an abortion, she then does not become a struggling mother and thus makes it that much easier to support the struggling mothers who DO want to be mothers, right?
It's great that Obama's de-funding crisis pregnancy centers in his budget. It's ridiculous that they were getting funding in the first place -- how was that not a violation of "separation of church and state"?
One thing that concerns me about Obama's budget is that it maintains the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/07/obama-budget-bans-federal_n_199436.html). Folks are saying that he's also underfunding global programs to fight HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (http://sciencespeaks.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/further-budget-analysis-from-global-center/).
(P.S. What's with all the anti-choicers on this thread?)
(P.S. What's with all the anti-choicers on this thread?)
They always come out of the woodwork on abortion posts.
It's great that Obama's de-funding crisis pregnancy centers in his budget. It's ridiculous that they were getting funding in the first place -- how was that not a violation of "separation of church and state"?
One thing that concerns me about Obama's budget is that it maintains the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/07/obama-budget-bans-federal_n_199436.html). Folks are saying that he's also underfunding global programs to fight HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (http://sciencespeaks.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/further-budget-analysis-from-global-center/).
(P.S. What's with all the anti-choicers on this thread?)
Eek. Sorry for the double post. It's my first time commenting here, but I'll (hopefully) get the hang of it eventually. haha.
Don't feel too bad. Glancing through the comments indicates how frequently this happens. Feministing is an awesome site content-wise, but the user-interface still has some bugs when it comes to posting and commenting. (No offense intended to the wonderful folks who run the site.)
I wish they'd take their Bibles/Korans/Torahs out of my vagina and stick it up their asses.
Thank you for the laugh :)
My letter to A Woman's Place Ministries in Tampa, where I live (though I'm sure they won't give a shit):
As a Tampa resident and a human being, I am appalled by the information being disseminated to women concerning abortion by your organization. The fact that you cite studies that have been repeatedly debunked in the medical and scientific communities, such as the 1994 study from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute linking breast cancer and abortion, in the name of truth and women's empowerment is insulting, patronizing, and, above all, dangerous. I am just thankful that you will no longer be receiving the millions of dollars in CBAE grants that have funded your propaganda and lies for too many years.
awesome
What those "crisis pregnancy centers" are doing is one of the sickest things I'v read
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