The insidious influence of crisis pregnancy centers will only get worse.
 | By Zach Levitt Graphics/Multimedia Editor, Opinion |
Three years ago, when I was an undergraduate at Middlebury College, I started working as a research assistant for one of my professors, Carly Thomsen. Her research team was exploring the geographic reach of so-called crisis pregnancy centers (C.P.C.s), whose primary aim is to deter and delay women from getting abortions, often with deceptive practices. |
C.P.C.s have flourished in recent decades, and today there are more than 2,600 of these centers nationwide — over three for every abortion-providing facility. Our analysis of driving times to C.P.C.s and abortion facilities revealed that over one-fourth of women of reproductive age currently live closer to a C.P.C. than an abortion facility. |
When the Opinion section was looking for novel ideas that would help readers understand this troubling moment for reproductive rights, I brought the idea of writing about C.P.C.s to Thomsen, who suggested that we update our original driving time analysis for a potential post-Roe v. Wade America, when at least 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion. |
This week, we are sharing our findings in a piece I co-wrote with Thomsen and Carrie N. Baker, a professor at Smith College, who has written extensively on crisis pregnancy centers. Our most striking finding: If Roe v. Wade falls and nearly 200 abortion facilities close, over half of all women of reproductive age will live closer to a C.P.C. than an abortion clinic — an additional 18 million women. |
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We write that these shifts would make it easier for C.P.C.s to intercept women who are seeking legitimate reproductive health care and would likely have disproportionate impacts on women of color. For example, our analysis shows that the share of Black and Latina women who live closer to a C.P.C. than an abortion facility would triple in a post-Roe v. Wade world. |
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If more women end up at C.P.C.s after Roe, there will likely be further delays in care, more medical misinformation and a higher chance that serious issues with pregnancies won't be caught early on. |
Increasingly, C.P.C.s are funded in part by taxpayer money — to the tune of at least $89 million this fiscal year — but C.P.C.s have proven difficult to regulate. In our piece, we write about these challenges, as well as recent attempts by lawmakers and activists to restrain C.P.C.s' deceptive tactics. |
There are also grass-roots efforts that individuals can take to curb the centers' dangerous practices in their own schools, churches and communities. As legal access to abortion is threatened, we must act now to limit the role of C.P.C.s in the future. |
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