Crisis Pregnancy Centers: A Threat to Reproductive Freedom and Pregnant People Across the US

We were proud to be at South By Southwest 2024 for the premiere of the documentary Preconceived — telling the stories of some of the thousands of people who have been deceived by the coercive anti-abortion propaganda mills known as crisis pregnancy centers.

There’s more to know about CPCs than can be conveyed in any one film, so here are some additional facts and resources — and if you’re interested in taking action, we hope you’ll sign up to learn more, host a Preconceived screening, or advocate in other ways for real, full-spectrum reproductive health care.

Facts about CPCs

Crisis pregnancy centers are anti-abortion organizations that use misinformation, deception, and coercion to try to prevent people from getting abortion care.
They make false claims about abortion — frightening the people who come to them for support with false claims about high complication rates and links between abortion and breast cancer, infertility, mental illness, and preterm birth.
They promote the debunked practice of “abortion pill reversal” — an untested medical procedure that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists called “unethical” and “not based in science.”
They disproportionately target low-income people and pregnant people of color.
They engage in unregulated surveillance of their patients — amassing vast amounts of sensitive medical and personal data that could be used to prosecute abortion patients in states with criminal bans on abortion care.

Here in Minnesota, Gender Justice conducted a study with the Alliance: State Advocates For Women’s Rights & Gender Equality that found:

CPCs outnumber abortion clinics in Minnesota 11 to 1.
Minnesota CPCs make false claims about abortion at twice the rate of other states.
Most CPCs in Minnesota do not provide any medical services at all. Only 9% claim to have a physician and only 20% indicate they have a registered nurse on staff.

The list goes on. Read the full report here.

What Can Be Done to Stop CPCs

Educate yourself. Start with Designed to Deceive, our report on Minnesota CPCs with the Alliance: State Advocates For Women’s Rights & Gender Equality.
Encourage your elected representatives to take action against anti-abortion CPCs — ensuring government funding goes only to legitimate full-spectrum reproductive health care organizations, holding CPCs accountable for their deceptive practices through consumer protection laws, and ending state-sanctioned CPC referrals.
Spread the word about the threat that CPCs represent via social media and in-person conversations with your friends, family, and community.
Host a screening of Preconceived. Sign up via the form below, and we’ll help you set it up.

Host a Screening, Learn More, and Take Action

Sign up for action alerts from Gender Justice, and check the box below if you’re interested in getting a conversation started about CPCs by hosting a screening of Preconceived.