Pro-abortion rights group investigation finds misinformation coming from counseling

An abortion-rights group said Monday that a nine-month investigation of crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina found widespread misinformation being disseminated to clients seeking information about their pregnancies.

NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina Foundation conducted the investigation by examining the websites of counseling centers, calling for information and in some cases visiting the centers posing as pregnant women.

According to a 36-page report released Monday, investigators found the centers often failed to disclose that they were not medical facilities, and often passed along misinformation about the effects of abortion, including that it frequently led to breast cancer.

Carey Pope, executive director for NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, said the organization isn't opposed to centers with an anti-choice agenda.

"It's the fact that they are lying to women and posing as health centers," she said.

The foundation identified 122 such crisis pregnancy centers statewide. It did not identify which centers were part of the investigation, but Pope said centers in the Triad were visited by undercover investigators.

The study found that 92 percent of the centers studied had no medical professionals on staff, and yet more than a third provided ultrasounds and 12 percent conducted tests for sexually transmitted disease.

Pope said that under current state guidelines, those centers aren't required to have medical personnel conducting those tests. But facilities that provide abortions are medical centers and thus face higher standards of licensing, including a requirement to have their tests conducted by medical staff.

Pope said she wants stricter requirements on crisis centers that are more in line with the standards that apply to licensed medical facilities.

While NARAL officials said they are fine with groups that want to help women who choose to give birth, "lines are crossed when a center is not upfront about its limited services," Pope said. "This is about women's health and the safety of the community."

The report recommends that government officials demand minimum medical standards of these centers, along with advertising that makes their medical capabilities clear. The report is the latest effort by people worried that recent legislation approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly is discouraging access to legal abortions.

State Sen. Pete Brunstetter, R-Forsyth, said Monday that he had not seen the report but would be skeptical of any report from NARAL. Brunstetter said NARAL has been outspoken and litigious against groups that disagree with its pro-abortion rights agenda.

"I guess I would file this in the 'consider the source' category," he said.

Physicians who provide abortions and Planned Parenthood affiliates in North Carolina already have sued to block a portion of new restrictions from taking effect Wednesday. A federal judge heard arguments last week from attorneys about whether the law violates the constitution with specifications of the way pre-abortion ultrasounds must be performed.

The centers are likely to play a more important role in the abortion debate because their numbers have nearly doubled in five years, and the law requires the state to give pregnant women access to information about agencies that provide free ultrasounds. Many crisis pregnancy centers perform them. Centers under the umbrella of the Charlotte-based Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship also will share $10 from each "Choose Life" license plates that now can be issued in North Carolina.

The report said that 17 of the 66 crisis pregnancy centers that were investigated stated that abortion leads to breast cancer and 43 contended abortion results in "post-abortion stress syndrome" for the woman. The National Cancer Institute has said there's no evidence linking early termination of a pregnancy to the causes of breast cancer, and the syndrome is not recognized by national psychological associations. Anti-abortion groups often cite studies backing their claims.

The report said more than half of the centers investigated were affiliated with Christian groups and many encouraged abstinence until marriage by using arguments from the Bible. One investigator who posed as a pregnant Jewish woman was told at five centers she needed to become a Christian to go to heaven, the report said.

The abortion law currently being challenged in court requires a woman seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound at least four hours before the procedure by a medical professional, who must put the electronic image of the fetus in front of the pregnant woman, describe what the woman may view and offer her the chance to listen to the fetal heartbeat.

The law also requires that a woman receive abortion state-specified information at least 24 hours in advance, including the medical risks of having an abortion and giving birth.