On
December 4, the Limited Service Pregnancy Centers Disclaimers bill was signed
into law in Baltimore City. Baltimore now leads the nation with the first
enacted law in the country requiring crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to
disclose the limited nature of their services to their clients.

Introduced by City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the law will go into effect
in January 2010.  This bill was supported by a diverse coalition of
women’s groups and health organizations, and passed by a decisive 12-3 margin
in the City Council.

CPCs
often advertise “information on all options” or “medical referrals.” Thanks to the leadership of Council
President Rawlings-Blake, they must now clarify that this does not include
birth control information or abortion referrals. In essence,
this bill requires truth in advertising by requiring CPCs to inform their
clients if they do not provide or refer for abortion or comprehensive birth
control by posting a sign in English and Spanish.  

The measure will
be enforced by the Baltimore City Health Department. This law does
not violate the centers’ right to free speech and, unfortunately, we suspect
that they will continue to spread misinformation.  But at least now women will have a lens through which to
view the so-called information about abortion and birth control they receive at
these centers.

Intense
and angry opposition to the bill was led by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and
Maryland Catholic Conference.  They attacked national and local research
documenting CPC practices as “biased” and “flawed.”  Opponents of the law
argued that CPCs were being “harassed,” “unfairly singled out” and that their
“integrity was impugned.”  Yet they agreed that CPCs purposefully
do not provide or refer for abortion or birth control.

The
opponents also claimed that the bill attacked pro-life charities. The proof,
they said, was that abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood did not have
to put up signs saying that they do not provide baby bottles, diapers and
infant formula. Comparing a CPC to a professional health care provider is like comparing
apples to oranges. They are not equals on opposing sides; CPCs are ministries,
not health care providers.  Unlike CPCs, reproductive health care
providers, including Planned Parenthood, adhere to a standard of care that
includes providing information on all pregnancy options and providing community
referrals for services like prenatal care and adoption.  The pro-choice
community empowers women to make informed medical decisions, basing care on
well-researched science, which is supported by the Food and Drug Administration,
the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

This legislation
is not about abortion. It’s about a woman in crisis having the right to know
that the crisis pregnancy center down the street will censor her access to
basic, factual information about her healthcare.  No one objects to
organizations that want to help women who chose to become mothers. But lines
are crossed when organizations mislead women and give information that the CDC
would throw in the trash can.  This law helps ensure each woman looking
for information about birth control or dealing with an unplanned pregnancy will
be able to make an informed choice: to stay at the CPC or to go to a health
care professional who will give her all the information to which she is
entitled.  It is a common sense approach we can all get behind.