Lying to pregnant women at our expense

July 18, 2006

I find this frustrating on multiple levels.

Federally funded “[tag]pregnancy resource centers[/tag]” are incorrectly telling women that [tag]abortion[/tag] results in an increased risk of [tag]breast cancer[/tag], infertility and deep psychological trauma, a minority congressional report charged yesterday.

The report said that 20 of 23 federally funded centers contacted by staff investigators requesting information about an unintended pregnancy were told false or misleading information about the potential risks of an abortion.

The pregnancy resource centers, which are often affiliated with antiabortion religious groups, have received about $30 million in federal money since 2001, according to the report, requested by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.). The report concluded that the exaggerations “may be effective in frightening [tag]pregnant[/tag] teenagers and women and discouraging [tag]abortion[/tag]. But it denies the teenagers and women vital health information, prevents them from making an informed decision, and is not an accepted public health practice.”

It’s not enough for administration officials to reject reality-based science; they also embrace obvious falsehoods. It’s not enough to oppose reproductive rights and promote ineffectual abstinence-only policies; they also want to ensure that pregnant women are lied to. It’s not enough to simply celebrate the far-right “[tag]crisis pregnancy centers[/tag]” that try to scare women with nonsense; they also have to subsidize these efforts with our tax dollars.

Only 917 more days to go….

The best way to keep people powerless is to keep them ignorant.

The best way to keep women and girls powerless is to keep them ignorant.

People who know everything about sex may be just as moral and prudish as the oppressed, but they have a choice to be sodomites if and when they want, and apparantly, that is unacceptable to the Theocratic Reactionaries.

I don’t think these people should be getting taxpayer money, and we need a Democratic Congress to stop it (and Ned Lamont rather than Lieberman).

  • The theocratic forces probably figure it’s “fair and balanced” to fund “pregnancy resource centers” since there still are a few Planned Parenthood offices surviving around the country.

    Look at the huge budget NASA gets. Shouldn’t our tax dollars go toward offsetting this by promoting the Flat Earth Society?

    Ignorant or informed … you choose.

  • Hey, what about all the risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth? Blood pressure, diabetes, toxemia, emotional instability? If they were REALLY worried about the dangers, they wouldn’t let ANYBODY get pregnant.

  • Providing false and misleading medical information could probably be prosecuted under the law as medical malpractice. Taking federal funds to promote false medical pracitces could be prosecuted as theft, embezzlement, and fraud. Providing medical counseling without the proper training and certification by a state medical board is, the last time I checked, a criminal offense in all 50 states. If the “antiabortion religious groups” are doing this in an organized manner, then they are subject to criminal prosecution onder federal organized-crime statutes.

    And—if specific churches are found to be bankrolling these organizations, then those churches are subject to loss of tax-exempt status, triple-penalty under federal codified law, and confiscation of all material holdings—property, land, monies, investments—right down to the last hymnal, pew, and candlestick….

  • Close to 30yrs ago, when I told my obstetrician that I intended to nurse my baby once he/she was born, the doc was delighted. He told me that, according to some studies, not only were nursed children healthier than bottle-fed ones, but women who nursed tended to have a lower instance of breast cancer.

    I wonder if this “abortion causes breast cancer” spin isn’t coming from the same source, just connecting things backwards, to suit. Just as, 45 yrs ago, there was a theory that mothers who smoked had easier time giving birth. For sure they did — their babies were smaller.

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