Fundie-Ran "Crisis Pregnancy Centers"

[synchroswimr]

Love, that is terrible! These stories are heartbreaking

[synchroswimr]

Love, that is terrible. These stories are heartbreaking

[fundiefan]

I would never suggest anyone go to a crisis pregnancy center. They offer virtually no help and give out bad information. In most cases, you'll leave the center worse off than when you went in.

I agree, completely.

[fundiefan]

When I was 18, unmarried and pregnant with ZERO family support, I went to a crisis pregnancy center.

IT WAS AWFUL!

I called, thinking they would help me, and set up an appointment for a free pregnancy test. They told me that there were no strings attached and I could do the test and leave. When I got there, they took me to a room that was set up like a little nursery and left me there for about 20 minutes waiting for someone to come talk to me. There were pictures of new babies everywhere and a gestational chart on the way. It was tough sitting in that room - terrified of having a baby and being surrounded by all things baby. Finally a woman came in and I did the test. Surprise ! It was positive. They asked me what I was planning on doing. I told them I didn't know if I should have the baby, abort the baby, give it up for adoption etc. But that I was leaning toward abortion.

That's when they got WEIRD. They started showing me baby clothes and saying "see, isn't this cute. your child will look so sweet in these clothes". They also told that I would likely die from an abortion and that even if I did have an abortion, I would be left so helpless and in need of a baby that I would be pregnant within 12 months to sooth the heartache. They blocked the door with their bodies while they went on and on about jesus and adoption and how I would die or never be able to have children again.

I left as soon as I could get out of there, reeling from the interaction we had. It was a nightmare and didn't sway my final decision at all in their direction. If anything, It made me think there was no way I could be a parent and deal with 'grown ups' like these.

Eeek. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. But, I am happy you knew yourself enough to not be swayed by tricks and tactics.

Whatever the choice is htat one has to make, resorting to games, tricks and manipulative tactics is wrong in every way, shape and form.

I feel so terribly sad for those who get sucked into the manipulation.

[blisterine]

i've been to both extremes. the first time, i went get a free test and it turned out to be an abortion clinic. when my test came back positive and i told them would be keeping the child, they connected me with birthright and got me a great deal for a normal delivery. he was a preemie and i owed $18K anyway, but my hospital bill alone would have been more than $900.

the second time, i went to a christian place. it was identical to the other story. i took the test and while i waited, i sat in a room done up like a nursery and showed me pictures of all fetuses in all stages in development. half an hour later, they told me i wasn't pregnant. they prayed over me that god would bless me with blessings in the the future. meanwhile, i'm thinking "thank god i'm not pregnant!"

[Kaylee]

Only open 9-3 - that stinks! At least the one here has a 24-hour hotline even if the office is closed. I see ads for it all the time.

That's how the one here is, it opened at 9 or 10 and closed at 2 or 3, and was only open Tuesday-Thursday. I was still working when I was going there, but on a flexible schedule. Still, I remember thinking how unfair that was because most women I know either work first shift or stay home but have only one vehicle and a husband or boyfriend that works first shift and takes the vehicle with him. Part of the reason I totally quit going was that I was having blackouts and restricted from driving for close to 2 months, and couldn't make the appointments, then I realized that same circumstance applied to most people who really needed pregnancy help (that and I was really uncomfortable with some of the things they were saying and how certain people were treated, and they were pushing me to give up my son for adoption).

[Kathryn31]

There was one really close to my house growing up and all the girls would go there for free pregnancy tests (they are expensive for broke teens). They would make you sign stuff saying you would have the baby and although there was no legal way it would stand they would guilt the hell out of you for thinking about abortion.

[LynnKaboom]

I live just outside of a major urban area, and there's a lot of these Crisis Pregnancy Centers around. I've heard different things about them- some of them I've heard are pretty good and will give away free stuff like diapers and baby formula and clothes, while others just basically hand out pamphlets. There's one that's VERY up front about its ties to a local adoption agency, but it's considered one of the best ones around. They discourage people from having abortion, but they give the expectant mothers information on everything else, let them know about the adoption process if they decide to go that route, and if they don't, they give them all kinds of free stuff like mentioned above.

[whit1213]

My 18 yr old niece called for birth control pills and received a 20 minute lecture on why she shouldn't use birth control. :roll:

Why not avoid any 'crisis pregnancy' and just take a pill?

Dammed if you do, Dammed if you don't.

When I was 16, I asked my mom if I could get some birth control pills. She said ok and called a doctor in town. They would not give me birth control because I wasn't married. My mom told them they were idiots and hung up.

[GeoBQn]

There's a website called CPC Watch that has a lot of information about Crisis Pregnancy Centers. They are working on a Google list called "Deceptive Health Centers," and they have tips on how to recognize them and what to do if you find yourself in one. They also have a list of stories, all of them heart-breaking:

http://cpcwatch.org/Women%27s-Stories.php

Kathryn Joyce, the author of Quiverfull, also wrote an article for The Nation on how many CPCs have ties with Christian adoption agencies. Their agenda is to not only scare women out of having abortions--they want to coerce them into placing their babies for adoption.

http://www.thenation.com/article/shotgun-adoption

[starfish]

I've heard it's a common practice for them to mislead you/flat out lie about how far along the woman is in the pregnancy. That way, if the woman waits to get an abortion, she is too far along to have one in the first trimester.

Nice!

I'm sure there are some good ones out there, but I've never heard of any.

Our beloved TX legislature, BTW, wanted to direct all the funds from PP into CPCs so they could do all the medical work that PP does. Isn't that outrageous? Heck, they may have, in fact, done that. It doesn't matter that the CPCs are not medical clinics and have no medical personnel on staff.

But I say, let's have male pastors start conducting colonoscopies and see how the dudes like it.

[emmiedahl]

I wonder what would happen if I, an educated, married (to a man) mid-30's woman went there "complaining" about my unplanned pregnancy? Would they offer me supplies to help my maternal/nesting instinct kick in or just pounce on me with scripture to make me rethink my doubtful approach to Jebus?

This was pretty much my situation and I was told by many people that they would pounce with teh Jeezus and withhold any actual help unless I said I was planning an abortion. I am educated, married, 30's, newly poor.

[fundiefun]

Count me in as another person who was so blessed to experience a CPC. This was back in 2009 I had suspected I was pregnant and since Planned Parenthood wasn't available in our town and 5- minutes away I went to the CPC for a pregnancy test. I had to make an appointment and it took forever to get in and it was basically a crock of shit. They gave me phamplets about how harmful abortions were, the dangers of birth control,etc and she asked to pray with me about what I would do. I intended to keep the child, but still them loading my head with religious bs was too much for me to handle. The test ended up being negative, but a week later tested positive I ended up miscarrying, but still it was too much for me to handle. It pisses me off because a lot of student organizations on campus fundraisers and give donations to them especially my school's Catholic Newman Center which I was apart of back them hugely but no one is aware of their deceptive practices. I would love to see a planned parenthood come to town to provide support to college students and teens in the area since its a high pregnancy rate and poverty area, but with these Catholic and right wingers I don't see that happening. I thought about starting a college campus group that is tied to planned parenthood but I would have faced so much backlash from fellow students and possibly excommunication. It's just sad that in America we have to fight for something simple as rights to our bodies that people want to govern and place laws on.