A Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC), sometimes called a Pregnancy Resource Center, is a fake clinic that does NOT provide comprehensive reproductive health care — or much of any health care at all.

They are anti-abortion counseling centers with an agenda. They often use advertisements to trick pregnant people into making an appointment, promising free ultrasounds or free pregnancy tests with the goal of pressuring people to carry a pregnancy to term. Generally they do not use the ultrasound as a diagnostic tool, but as another means of shame and coercion.

Their goal is to dissuade individuals from exercising their right to choose. Many CPCs intentionally misinform and mislead those seeking pregnancy-related information. Once inside, people are often lied to, shamed, and pressured about their reproductive health decisions, potentially delaying and increasing the cost of their procedure or pushing them past a deadline for legal abortion altogether. CPCs often look like medical facilities, yet they do not practice medicine. Though they may offer services like STD and pregnancy testing, they very rarely, if ever, offer STD treatment, access to contraceptives, or prenatal care.

These practices block any pregnant person from making fully informed choices about their reproductive health and put them in danger by delaying access to legitimate health-care services.

— credit to Pittsburgh DSA’s Expose Fake Clinics campaign

⚠️ Crisis Pregnancy Centers can also go by the name Pregnancy Resource Center

⚠️ If the ad or flier for a clinic emphasizes how scary a pregnancy can be, it’s probably a CPC

⚠️ If a website add or flier for a clinic uses the phrase life affirming, it is probably a CPC.

⚠️ If the center offers free ultrasounds and pregnancy tests, it’s likely a CPC

⚠️ If the website offers abortion information but nothing on actual abortion services, it’s probably a CPC

⚠️ If you call to ask about abortion and they refuse to answer your questions over the phone, it’s probably a CPC

⚠️ When reviewing a potential clinic’s website, look for coded anti-choice language and perspective, including referring to an embryo as a human being in early stages of development and an emphasis on abortion recovery

⚠️ If the clinic’s website or staff refuse to offer referral for actual abortion providers, it’s probably a CPC

⚠️ If the clinic does not provide extended OB/GYN or pre-natal care, birth control prescription or devices, or fertility testing, it’s probably a CPC

— credit to Pittsburgh DSA’s Expose Fake Clinics campaign

To learn more about Crisis Pregnancy Centers: