Hey feminists! It’s time to start mobilizing. It’s just one week until our “Don’t Be Fooled by Fake Clinics” National Week of Action taking place the week leading up to April Fool’s Day (March 28th to April 1st). What is a fake clinic and why should we expose it, you ask? Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) are clinics that pose to be comprehensive women’s health clinics. These “clinics” have an agenda to dissuade women from their options and restrict people from gaining access to contraceptives, abortions, and abortion referrals. This week of action leading up to April Fools Day is a way to raise awareness about deceptive clinics and promote action in your community. If your club/organization hasn’t started organizing for next week, here are a few things to consider before planning events and actions:
- Read through our Action Kit to get started.
- Go to your campus health center, and see what health/women’s clinics your school refers people to. Does your school promote CPCs?
- If there are fake clinics on your school’s referral list, pressure them to pull misleading ads or post disclaimers about what services a clinic provides (and does not provide).
- Post educational flyers in your area to tell people what CPCs are (see our example here).
- Organize a SPEAK OUT and have students share their stories and opinions about CPCs. Your voice is powerful!
- Organize a photo campaign to and post your pictures on social media sites.
- Get in contact with your local school newspaper to advertise your action plans and cover what your club is doing.
- Circulate this petition to stop deceptive advertising and federal funding of fake women’s health clinics.
- Host a screening of Let’s Talk About Sex about sex education in the U.S.
- Host a screening of 12th & Delaware and use our videos as a starting point for discussion.
These are a few tips to help you get started before “Don’t Be Fooled by Fake Clinics” week. If you need more action ideas, check out this link. Be sure to let us know what your club is up to by sending pictures and your action plans to campusteam@feminist.org!
