Fayetteville Women's Clinic
William Harrison M.D.
1011 N. College, Fayetteville, Arkansas
(479) 442-8166

Beware of Anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centers

I just learned last week that a “crisis pregnancy center” calling itself Women’s Services has opened at 1015 N. College Ave in Fayetteville, two doors north of my office at 1011 N. College in order to attempt to lure unsuspecting patients into their clutches.

These “pregnancy centers” are notorious for lying to and misinforming patients. While I know of only 2 clinics in Arkansas that offer a full range of reproductive services to women and their families, there are literally dozens of these places set up almost exclusively by fundamentalist churches, including Roman Catholic churches, to illegally collect identifying and medical information from you.

Their intent is only to do you harm by making you delay an abortion that you have already decided on, perhaps convincing you to have a baby and then let them arrange to have your baby adopted. To learn more about these places whose only purpose is to change your mind, read on.In small and large towns throughout the United States (and all over the Internet), anti-abortion groups have set up "crisis pregnancy centers" or "pregnancy counseling centers" or "pregnancy help centers." They are often located near high schools, as are the “LOVING CHOICES” centers in this part of Arkansas. These centers follow a format suggested by the Pearson Foundation that is deliberately designed to misinform and mislead young women.

Going by the names, Crisis Pregnancy Center, Pregnancy Aid, Birth Right, Open Door, Pregnancy Counseling Center, or Loving Choices, these groups want to be the first contact a woman makes when she thinks she might be pregnant with an unintended pregnancy. Their sole goal is to talk her out of considering abortion.

Anti-abortion pregnancy centers are listed in the yellow pages under "abortion alternatives." They do NOT provide abortion. Many offer free pregnancy tests or pregnancy “counseling” as a means to lure you in. On the Internet they also use deceptive names like prochoice.com, and pregnancycenters.org.

Nearly all of these centers are operated by churches or religious organizations. They refer to themselves as a "ministry" to save women's souls.
Most anti-abortion centers will not give out information by phone, they insist you come into their office. Women have reported waiting up to an hour for the results of a 2 minute pregnancy test and being forced to watch anti-abortion videos while they wait surrounded by anti-abortion propaganda. Some women have then been denied the results of their pregnancy test when they say they want an abortion or that they need the test result to apply for medical assistance.

Women describe being harassed, intimidated, and given blatantly false information, or being forced to pray with the crisis pregnancy center's staff. They complain that their confidential information was used against them. In some cases, they were followed home, and mail and phone calls intruded into their homes.

The Pearson Foundation manual, How to Start and Operate Your Own ProLife Outreach Crisis Pregnancy Center, urges anti-abortion “counselors” to give deceptive answers. For example, it cautions, "Do not tell the client that she is or is not pregnant." Instead, counselors are advised to only say whether test results are positive or negative.

They show shocking and misleading films and pictures of mutilated fetuses and stillborn babies. They won't let women leave until the end of the video or until they have looked at all the anti-abortion information, even when the woman realizes she has made a mistake going there.

They attempt to make women feel guilty should she chose to abort.
They refuse or fail to provide contraceptive information. The Pearson Foundation manual explicitly instructs counselors "never to counsel or refer for artificial contraceptives or sterilization." They advise unmarried women to abstain from sex, presenting abstinence as the only way to avoid pregnancy.
Their offices are filled with radically biased and misleading information.
Some of these centers offer ultrasound (also known as sonograms). But that does not mean the personnel operating the equipment have received medical training.

IF you discover you are seeking help from the crisis pregnancy center near us, or any of the others, protect yourself from further harassment by leaving immediately and do not return. When you do locate us, be sure to tell us about your experience at the fake clinic and let us help you sort out the facts from their radical religious views or the outright lies you have been told.

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