FALSE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION PROVIDED
BY FEDERALLY FUNDED PREGNANCY RESOURCE
CENTERS
PREPARED FOR
REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN
In December 2004, Rep. Waxman released a
report by the Special Investigations
Division
that evaluated the scientific accuracy of
the curricula used in federally funded
abstinence only
education programs. The report found that
nearly all of the curricula contained
false, misleading, or distorted
information about reproductive health. The
curricula
included inaccurate information about
disease and pregnancy prevention;
erroneous
effectiveness rates for condoms; the
presentation of religious belief as fact;
and the
teaching of stereotypes about boys and
girls as science.27
The centers provided false and
misleading information about a
link between abortion and breast
cancer.
Several centers quantified the claimed
risk. One center
told the caller that there is an
“extremely high,
increased risk of breast cancer” that
“can be as much as
an 80% increase depending upon how the
risk factors
fall into place.”38 A second center
stated that abortion
increases the risk of breast cancer by
50%.39 A third
center asserted that an abortion elevates
the average
lifetime risk of breast cancer by 50% and
that more
abortions increase the risk even more.40
The centers provided false and
misleading information about the
effect of abortion on future
fertility.
The centers provided false and
misleading information about the
mental health effects of abortion.
Pregnancy resource centers often mask
their pro-life mission in order to attract
“abortionvulnerable
clients.”5 This can take the form of
advertising under “abortion services”
in
the yellow pages or obscuring the fact
that the center does not provide referrals
to
abortions in the text of an
advertisement.6 Some centers purchase
advertising on internet search engines
under keywords that include “abortion”
or “abortion clinics.”7 Other
advertisements represent that the center
will provide pregnant teenagers and women
with
an understanding of all of their options.
Separation of Church and State?
Prior to the Bush Administration, only a
few pregnancy resource centers received
federal funding. Beginning in 2001,
however, federal funding of pregnancy
resource centers
increased sharply. In total, over $30
million in federal funds went to more than
50 pregnancy resource centers between 2001
through 2005.13
An interview with a person who works at a
crisis center:
"So people that come into your center that
have already heard you, you get the chance
to share the
Gospel with them, which is the ultimate
thing of what we’re doing."
