San Francisco moved forward on Monday to protect consumers from deceptive ads by anti-abortion “clinics.” At a hearing before a committee of the Board of Supervisors on the Pregnancy Information Disclosure and Protection Ordinance, proposed by Supervisor Malia Cohen, advocates, doctors, and patients testified that one such San Francisco “clinic,” First Resort, places paid ads so that its name shows up in a search for “abortions San Francisco” on Google and elsewhere.
NARAL California and the Bay Area Coalition for Reproductive Rights (BACORR) presented the results of months of research revealing misleading or coercive practices by First Resort. They further illustrated that the group’s website is riddled with misinformation. Testimony by Trust Women/Silver Ribbon is online here. First Resort staff affirmed that they do not provide abortions, and did not deny placing the misleading ads.
The ordinance would require such phony “crisis pregnancy centers” to desist from deceptive ads. Supervisor Eric Mar supported the measure as a co-sponsor. Women would make the right choices if given accurate information, he said; this ordinance would help. The measure will go to the full Board for a vote.
The lies have real consequences: abortion is more complicated if delayed, and a visit to First Resort can push back the date of actual treatment by weeks. Low income women have five times the rate of unintended pregnancies compared to others, and are most likely to be harmed by this diversion from the care they determined they wanted, having to hassle time off from work, child care, and transportation.
Please email the Supervisors immediately with your views (San Francisco residents: find your district and Supervisor here). Just write in the subject line: “I support the Pregnancy Information Disclosure and Protection Ordinance.” If you live in San Francisco, mention that in the text. And when you write to Eric Mar, thank him for voting yes! (Copies would be great to Supervisor Cohen and to the Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign: megan.hamilton@sfgov.org, ershaffer@gmail.com)
Phony clinics are popping up around the country. A hard-hitting video records staff at various clinics telling clients that an abortion will increase the chance of breast cancer by 100% (the real number is zero), and of suicide; one woman claims her abortion turned her into a crack whore. Abortion is still legal, but the war on women is raging.
Measures in New York and Baltimore that addressed the misleading information conveyed during visits to so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” were struck down on free speech grounds, and are on appeal. But the San Francisco ordinance is more tightly targeted. It deals entirely with protecting the public from deceptive commercial advertisements by phony clinics.