Boston City Councilors To Discuss Regulation of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

By Brendan McDonald | January 15, 2023, 12:24 EST

Boston city councilors have ordered a hearing to discuss regulating crisis pregnancy centers.

The order comes at the behest of councilor Ruthzee Louijeune who spoke in favor of the motion at a meeting on Wednesday, January 11. 

“I think there’s still opportunity here for us to discuss how we can ensure that entities providing resources for those seeking abortion care in the city of Boston are doing so while following the law,” Louijeune told the council.

“Entities providing resources” refers to crisis pregnancy centers, which are not-for-profit organizations that provide free services to pregnant women. There is currently one crisis pregnancy center located in Boston’s leather district.

Crisis pregnancy centers have been targeted for new government rules in several other Massachusetts municipalities during the past year, including Cambridge, which banned what the city council there calls “deceptive advertising” by such organizations on Monday, January 9. Abortion advocates refer to crisis pregnancy centers as “limited services pregnancy centers” because they don’t provide abortion.

NewBostonPost requested by email from Louijeune what type of regulation she might like to see. The Boston city councilor did not respond by deadline.

Louijeune pointed out during the January 11 meeting that former governor Charlie Baker had a chance “to support a budget request for the education and further regulation of crisis pregnancy centers and fell short of doing that.”

“I know that the current governor, this is something that she cares about and has really led on,” Louijeune added, referring to Maura Healey, who took office as governor on January 5.

In November, Baker vetoed a $1 million line item in a spending bill that sought to provide what the  called “a public awareness campaign to educate providers and the public about so-called crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers and their lack of medical services.”

Healey, the current governor, issued a warning against crisis pregnancy centers last July when she was state attorney general. Two crisis pregnancy centers in Worcester were attacked about 15 hours later. Several windows were broken and the centers were vandalized with graffiti. 

Many of councilor Leouijeune’s colleagues signed onto the order during the meeting on January 11, including Ricardo Arroyo, Kenzie Bok, Liz Breadon, Tania Fernandes Anderson, Gabriela Coletta, Brian Worrell, and the council president, Ed Flynn.

The item has been referred to the Public Health, Homelessness, and Recovery Committee, a subcommittee of the Boston city council.

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