This Washington
Extra Fizz: Pregnancy Center Bill Introduced
State Sen. Kevin Ranker (D-40, San Juan Island) is introducing one of the ACLU-sponsored bills we noted earlier this week. The bill would make limited service pregnancy centers
(as pro-choice groups derisively call them) or emergency pregnancy centers (as social conservatives call them) provide the results of pregnancy tests and disclose that they don't actually provide services or referrals for abortion or birth control nor provide pregnancy medical care.
A similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Rodney Tom (D-48, Bellevue) failed last year .
Sen. Ranker has 16 co-sponsors (all Democrats), including Seattle-area Sens. Jeanne Kohl-Wells, Scott White, Ed Murray, Adam Kline, and Margarita Prentice. Tom is also signed on.
In addition to the ACLU, the bill is also being championed (obviously) by NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, Planned Parenthood, and Legal Voice, a legal nonprofit that advocates for women's rights.
A joint press release from the groups today said:
They say there are 46 limited service pregnancy centers statewide.
Asked for examples of "misleading information" that patients encounter at these centers, NARAL spokeswoman Alison Mondi says they have documented instances when women who have gone to a center have been told that condoms don't help prevent STDs like HIV and that they should wait to take their pregnancy test for a few more weeks because a pregnancy won't show up if your period is only two-and-a-half weeks late.
Additionally, Mondi notes, the centers themselves are misleading from the get go because they advertise themselves as and "look like medical centers," but don't actually provide any medical services.
A similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Rodney Tom (D-48, Bellevue) failed last year .
Sen. Ranker has 16 co-sponsors (all Democrats), including Seattle-area Sens. Jeanne Kohl-Wells, Scott White, Ed Murray, Adam Kline, and Margarita Prentice. Tom is also signed on.
In addition to the ACLU, the bill is also being championed (obviously) by NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, Planned Parenthood, and Legal Voice, a legal nonprofit that advocates for women's rights.
A joint press release from the groups today said:
Women, often low-income and without health insurance, go to these centers seeking medical care and unbiased pregnancy options counseling. Instead, they get false or misleading information about reproductive health care, their pregnancy test results are withheld, and they are denied needed referrals for reproductive health care.
They say there are 46 limited service pregnancy centers statewide.
Asked for examples of "misleading information" that patients encounter at these centers, NARAL spokeswoman Alison Mondi says they have documented instances when women who have gone to a center have been told that condoms don't help prevent STDs like HIV and that they should wait to take their pregnancy test for a few more weeks because a pregnancy won't show up if your period is only two-and-a-half weeks late.
Additionally, Mondi notes, the centers themselves are misleading from the get go because they advertise themselves as and "look like medical centers," but don't actually provide any medical services.
