Don’t Get Tricked, Get Treated!

Winner for the scariest Halloween costume? Anti-choice “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” dressed up as comprehensive women’s health clinics.

It’s a convincing disguise, but CPCs, which advertise under “abortion” and “family planning” services, do not offer abortion services, contraception, or referrals. Instead, they have an anti-choice agenda and tell women misinformation about the effects of abortion in attempts to dissuade women away from all their choices.

Forget ghosts and zombies – this is a costume that can prevent women from making an informed decision about their bodies, and we can’t think of anything scarier. They’re all over the country: about 3,500 CPCs nationwide are being run by anti-abortion volunteers who are not licensed medical professionals.

So what can you do? This week is our CPC week of action, and we want you to organize on your campus and help get the word out about fake clinics! Here are some of our favorite ideas of what you can do on your campus:

1. Host a screening of 12^th and Delaware, or of FMF’s two videos on the deception of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, followed by a discussion.
2. Create educational flyers and posters identifying the real comprehensive women’s health clinics and warning people about fake clinics in your area.
3. Talk to your Campus Health Center and ask if they refer students to CPCs – almost half of 4-year universities in the US do! You can demand Truth in Advertising on your campus.
4. Hand out “Trick of Truth Treats” with candy and facts about CPCs.
5. Stage a protest at your nearest CPC, warning women about their deceptive practices. Or have a speak out/rally at your school!
6. Host a “haunted clinic” at your school: instead of ghosts and ghouls, emulate what goes on inside a creepy CPC.
7. Take pictures of people holding up signs with what they want to say about CPCs. Post them on campus, in a Facebook album, create a photo blog, or sent it to your legislators!
8. Put up consecutive signs (known as Burma Shave Signs) posted one after another at a visible place on campus to make a statement that no one can ignore.

You can make a difference on your campus – from San Francisco to New York City, truth-seekers have been exposing CPCs and making their false advertising illegal. We need to take the disguise off of CPCs and let people know what is underneath!