The article I chose from Ms. Magazine deals with Crisis Pregnancy Centers or CPC’s. The article talks about how these clinics often disguise and deceive young women into thinking that they perform abortions but in actuality they are anti-abortion clinics that badger young women and make them feel guilty so that they will change their minds. These clinics are funded by federal and state offices even though they have fraudulent practices and violence. I think that these clinics do have a right to be in existence but I think that they should state their mission and stance on pregnancy and abortion and not be allowed to be in such close vicinity to abortion clinics. I feel that the decision to have an abortion is not an easy one. Many women don’t make this decision on a whim. Pregnant women who have chosen this decision are in a state where they are vulnerable and I think that these clinics capitalize on that. These clinics that push their pro-life and anti-abortion agendas don’t take into count the individual and their situation they are just about telling them abortion is wrong and adoption is the only alternative if you don’t want to raise your child. They often make you feel bad if you even considered abortion and tell you that life begins at birth. Some of these clinics are associated with churches and can use religion to get the girl to change her mind. At the end of the day the decision is up to the woman but a woman who has made a decision should not be deceived into changing her mind.
The article talks initially about the murder of Dr. George Tiller and how the anti-abortion extremist that stalked and hounded him before murdering him. The man would be a sidewalk counselor and dissuade women from going into the abortion clinic where the doctor worked. The CPC that is located next door to Tiller’s clinic appeared to be a medical clinic as well even thought they did not perform any medical procedures. The CPC’s estimated 4,000 nationwide often mislead women and give them false information about their due dates and about the unproven links between abortion and infertility, cancer, and suicide. These tactics are used to dissuade women from considering abortion or even going into an abortion clinic. The extremist anti-abortion groups have been linked to these CPC’s and has caused more violent incidents than clinics that are not near CPC’s. The idea is that they will do anything to get their point across and ultimately they want abortion to be abolished.
I have been to one of those CPC’s with a friend and we did think that it was an abortion clinic. When we got there and spoke to the counselor we realized that this was in fact not an abortion clinic but an anti-abortion clinic. We did not want to be rude so we heard the counselor out. She talked about how she had her son young and she would not change her decision for the world and how she also adopted some children and she loved all of them equally. She also told us what we thought were facts about abortion and gave us booklets and pamphlets on adoption and raising children. She informed us about some statistics of abortion and how abortion is linked to cancer and told my friend to inform the dad and her mom and that adoption is always an option. She also told us that life begins at conception and since thou shall not kill that abortion was wrong. Lastly she said we could call and make a follow-up appointment and we left. We were highly upset when we left. The misinformation and the deception were what really had an impact on us. We threw all the pamphlets away and my friend called Planned Parenthood the next day. The whole ordeal was exactly how they describe in the article with the misleading and misinformation. This is an issue that a women should have complete control over and when people try to influence that decision with their own opinions it is not okay just as in the article in Listen Up “And So I Chose” she could see that women who had to make this choice had to do what was best for them and picketing and yelling at the girl just made it harder for the person. The right to choose is a right I think that all women should have and no one should be able to infringe upon that right.
I think that CFC’s and their practices such as sidewalk counseling are wrong. These procedures make it really difficult for a woman to deal with her decision to have an abortion and they infringe upon her right. I think that like in the story in Listen Up “Vacuum Cleaners, Abortion, and the Power Within” we should make abortions less public and more private because if someone has decided to have an abortion they should not be harassed about their decision by people from CFC’s or anybody. Making abortion somehow more private would be a great solution. Having a natural abortion or a low-cost abortion pill would save a lot of women stress and grief. The decision to have an abortion is a private one and the idea of having to go into a clinic and have someone do this medical procedure and also being harassed makes it very hard for women to deal with their decision. It is her decision ultimately and being deceived and mislead to change her mind is wrong and should not be tolerated. This is something that we need to come to a consensus about.
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