The Truth About Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Services and Standards
Behind the noise, what is a crisis pregnancy center at its core? A crisis pregnancy center (CPC) is a nonprofit, community-based organization that provides medical and compassionate support to women facing a difficult pregnancy decision. They began in the 1960s when abortion became legal to provide immediate and ongoing care to empower women and reveal the truth about abortion. But they have evolved since then. Now, they tend to go by “pregnancy medical clinics” or “pregnancy resource centers.”
Comprehensive Services and Support
The services they offer are more robust than in the past. About 80 percent of staff at CPCs are volunteers, which is how most centers can run without charging women for their services. These free services include:
- Ultrasounds
- Pregnancy tests
- Medical screenings
- Abortion pill reversal
- STD/STI testing and treatment
- Women’s counseling
- Men’s counseling
- Parenting resources
- Adoption referrals and resources
High Standards of Medical Care
Despite claims that crisis pregnancy centers don’t abide by medical regulations, CPCs have a high standard of care when serving women. Most centers affiliate with a national network – the three most prominent being Care Net, Heartbeat International and NIFLA. All affiliates have training, resources and services subject to an overarching national code of ethics instituted in 2009, “Our Commitment of Care and Competence.”
This also requires all affiliates to maintain the following standards:
- All medical services are under the supervision and direction of a licensed physician by applicable medical standards (like HIPAA)
- Truthfulness in all communications
- Client information confidentiality and protection (as guided by federal, state and local law)
- Rigor in screening volunteers and staff
- Nondiscrimination
- Kindness to and compassion for clients
- Compliance with all legal requirements regarding employment, fundraising, financial management, taxation, public reporting and financial disclosure
Comparing the Models of Care
It can be hard to decipher if large claims are the whole picture. For instance, the nation’s largest abortion provider performs abortions as 95% of their pregnancy services (and the number is only growing). This leaves little room for any other healthcare. In addition, they only provide one adoption referral per two hundred abortions. It reveals a lot about what “choice” they’re pushing. Abortion clinics make an average of $580 for medication abortions and $1,500-2,000 for surgical abortions. They made $633.4 million last year – or $1.74 million per day – through government funding.
In contrast, CPCs offer their services completely free. Data from 2019 shows that CPCs served close to 2 million people, with their free services and material assistance amounting to over $266 million. Only 20 percent of centers receive government funding. And yet, they put every dollar they have toward empowering women and supporting them before and after pregnancy with no charge to them. In fact, in the same year, centers gave away over 2 million baby outfits, 1.3 million packs of diapers and 30,445 car seats. While abortion clinics are taking, CPCs are giving.