Pregnancy Care Alliance Responds To Massachusetts ‘Public Education Campaign’ Against Crisis Pregnancy Centers
By Brendan McDonald | June 11, 2024, 15:34 EDT
A group representing several Massachusetts crisis pregnancy centers says Governor Maura Healey’s $1 million public campaign against them will hurt women with unplanned pregnancies.
“This politically motivated campaign will negatively impact women the most, specifically the many women who want to parent and rely on the free assistance we provide,” the Pregnancy Care Alliance told NewBostonPost by email on Tuesday.
The alliance was founded last year in response to continued state pressure on crisis pregnancy centers, including a budget proposal dedicating $1 million to a “public awareness campaign,” warning against “anti-abortion centers.”
That proposal bore fruit Monday, June 10, as state officials announced what they are calling “a first-in-the-nation public education campaign” warning against what they call “the dangers and potential harm of anti-abortion centers.”
The state’s anti-crisis-pregnancy centers campaign includes “social media platforms, billboards, radio, and transit,” according to State House News Service.
“Avoid anti-abortion centers,” says one YouTube video on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health says. “Get care you can trust.”
What care can be trusted?
Planned Parenthood in one trusted provider, according to the Healey administration’s press release ,
“This public awareness campaign is important to get people full and accurate information about their reproductive health care options,” Sheila Ramirez, the director of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, is quoted as saying the written statement, “and to disrupt the lies and harm perpetuated by anti-abortion centers.”
State public health officials say crisis pregnancy centers provide misleading information about pregnancy and options that pregnant women have in an attempt to lure women in for a pro-life pitch — a charge crisis pregnancy center officials deny.
The crisis pregnancy centers group say the state’s campaign against them is an attack on charity.
“Massachusetts’s network of pregnancy care centers provides millions of dollars in no-cost support and care for thousands of women annually who face planned and unplanned pregnancies, with services ranging from pregnancy confirmation services, parenting education, and community referrals to material goods like diapers and formula,” the Pregnancy Care Alliance said. “The women served by pregnancy resource centers overwhelmingly report a positive experience, yet the Healey Administration and other politicians in the state are furthering their extreme abortion agenda by using a taxpayer-funded campaign to discredit our centers.”
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