Abortion rights are still protected in California, but access to crucial information about pregnancy options isn’t

It finally happened.

Friday morning, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and life is changed for millions of people. The constitutional right to abortion is no longer ensured nationwide. Americans in more than half the states could see their access banned or severely limited. In the 13 states with trigger bans, it will happen within hours or days.

The truth is abortion won’t soon be curtailed in California. In 2022, lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills to strengthen and expand reproductive rights.

A proposed amendment to the state constitution enshrining the right to contraception and abortion cleared the senate this week and could be on the November ballot. In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation barring insurers from charging out-of-pockets costs for abortion services.

Other bills would provide funding to improve inequitable access and protect out-of-state patients seeking legal abortions (and the medical providers who perform them).

But, living in a state where protections are prioritized doesn’t mean that seeking reproductive care is easy or clear or an equal experience for all, especially when it comes to abortion.

In weighing such a major decision, it couldn’t be more crucial to have correct and complete information — about the options, the process, the aftermath.

That isn’t always the case for women visiting crisis pregnancy centers — free or low-cost facilities that offer some reproductive and prenatal care but ultimately aim to steer people away from abortion.

While abortion clinics have dwindled, religious and anti-abortion groups have spearheaded a massive nationwide expansion of these organizations, also called pregnancy care or resource centers.

Not all crisis pregnancy centers can be painted with the same brush. Some do provide (limited) free care, including pregnancy tests, and material support, such as diapers and formula, that can be otherwise out of reach.

But, the data is clear that these centers frequently provide misleading and incomplete information to patients who are often in a desperate situation.

A recent study by the Alliance, a national coalition of gender-focused law and policy groups, found that 66% of California’s crisis pregnancy centers “make false or biased medical claims, especially about pregnancy and abortion.”

Common misleading claims include touting unproven links between abortion and everything from pre-term birth, infertility and breast cancer to “increased promiscuity.”

Another report from national pro-choice nonprofit NARAL Pro-Choice America -- formerly known as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws -- found that a majority of crisis pregnancy centers in California in a survey touted unproven connections between abortions and increased risk of breast cancer, infertility and mental health issues.

The track record of these centers pressuring or shaming pregnant women toward parenting or adoption is well-documented.

The website of one nationwide network of crisis pregnancy centers ominously tells visitors: “What abortion clinics don’t tell you is that they profit off your decision.”

And, by the way, “you may not need an abortion,” the organization claims, since one in four pregnancies will end “NATURALLY” by miscarriage.

Still, the NARAL study found 70% of the facilities said they provided unbiased counseling, and only 20% clearly identified themselves as anti-choice organizations.

At the same time, these centers are often positioned as reproductive health clinics, even setting up shop near health facilities with abortion services. This can be misleading.

According to the Alliance analysis, only 10 percent of California’s crisis pregnancy centers provide prenatal or preventive health care, and only 30% had sexually transmitted infection-related services. (Only one center had contraceptive care.)

In fact, only a quarter have a physician and one-third have a registered nurse associated with their staff.

And, while crisis pregnancy centers increasingly have ultrasound services, these are commonly non-diagnostic or “keepsake” ultrasounds, which provide little information about the health of a fetus and are considered an “unapproved use of a medical device” by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and the Food and Drug Administration.

I only needed to scroll through the websites of the several such centers that have been located in and around Sonoma County to see this for myself.

One center that promised “unbiased information,” focused on the negative effects of emergency contraceptives (the morning after pill) and warned that “many women who have taken the abortion pill experience regret.”

Another local facility, set up about a mile from a Planned Parenthood, offers “limited” ultrasounds and “abortion pill reversal,” an unsupported and potentially dangerous experimental treatment to reverse the medication abortion process.

(I telephoned the centers last week, but I did not hear back from anyone as of late Friday afternoon.)

On June 1, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert “about the limited and potentially misleading nature of the services provided by crisis pregnancy centers.”

AG CPC Consumer Alert.pdf

“Crisis pregnancy centers often work to attract pregnant Californians into their facilities through vague claims about the information and services they offer,” Bonta said in a news release.

“While crisis pregnancy centers may claim to offer comprehensive reproductive health care services, their mission is to discourage people from accessing abortion care.”

In 2018, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling upholding a California law that would have required crisis pregnancy centers to disclose a lack of a medical license and for facilities without comprehensive care to post signs about the state’s provision of full-range free and low-cost reproductive care options.

Still, advocates have continued to call for lawmakers to regulate the industry.

Despite purporting to provide medical services, without licenses, crisis pregnancy centers are free of the credentialing and oversight that apply to other health care facilities.

It also means they aren’t subject to the same medical data privacy laws, which has a host of implications that are especially concerning if abortion is criminalized.

A February report warned crisis pregnancy centers are often part of a “digitally sophisticated network that targets low-income pregnant people who may or may not be considering abortion, collects their sensitive medical and personal information, and feeds it to anti-abortion organizations that store big data without clear privacy protections.“

In general, data collection when it comes to reproductive care apps, like period trackers, and location sharing in general are raising major alarms.

It’s not just hypothetical.

It turns out Facebook has been collecting sensitive personal data about those considering abortions that anti-abortion organizations can use to influence people online, per an investigation published this month by Reveal.

And, data brokers have already been found to be selling location data of those visiting abortion clinics.

Recently, Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would ban brokers from selling or transferring such sensitive information. Remember that you can adjust settings to turn off location sharing and other tracking for many apps.

In California, there are 20% more crisis pregnancy centers than abortion clinics, which typically provide a range of other medical services.

They’re particularly prevalent in more rural areas where comprehensive care is more sparse.

This all becomes especially problematic when considering these centers largely serve those that have disproportionate difficulty getting affordable quality health care, including low-income communities, undocumented residents and people of color.

If the easiest or only option for pregnant people are facilities with partial or false information, that gap stands to widen.

Free services and widespread support are essential, but any benefits are lost, or even reversed, without the full picture, facts and care necessary to make and carry through with a life-changing choice -whatever that might be.

“In Your Corner” is a new column that puts watchdog reporting to work for the community. If you have a concern, a tip, or a hunch, you can reach “In Your Corner” Columnist Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @InYourCornerTPD and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.