Inside the Anti-Abortion Movement’s Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Anti-abortion centers — sometimes known as a “crisis pregnancy center” — are public-facing establishments with a primary goal of diverting pregnant people from having an abortion. These ideologically-driven establishments take public funding to wrongly pose as unbiased health services, then give inaccurate and sometimes harmful information to pregnant people who are seeking support. It’s one of approximately 3,000 such facilities across the country, established by faith-based organizations primarily to dissuade people from having abortions.
Tactics and Deceptive Practices
They often attract clients by opening in close proximity to abortion care clinics and by advertising reproductive health services, despite the vast majority operating without medical licensing. Anti-abortion centers seek to intercept people seeking health care, often by placing physical locations very close to abortion clinics in order to confuse people looking for the clinic. Online, anti-abortion centers employ digital tactics to intercept people searching for abortion care.
In Napa, California, it is no accident that an anti-abortion center operates right next to the city’s lone Planned Parenthood, in a state of uneasy tension, on one small city block. Connected by a 6-foot wooden fence, their facades are plain, and notably similar to the casual observer. But behind those doors lie two vastly different worlds. For a pregnant person seeking health care, the choice of which one to enter comes with potentially life-changing consequences.
Sidewalk Counseling
Volunteers with the Christian anti-abortion organization 40 Days for Life perform what they call “sidewalk counseling.” A volunteer sits on a stool steps away from the Planned Parenthood entrance, wearing scrubs and a badge that reads “client advocate,” and talks to people approaching or exiting the clinic. They give them pamphlets featuring widely debunked claims about the dangers of abortion and birth control, and refer people to the facility next door.
Medical Claims and Lack of Professional Oversight
Although many anti-abortion centers advertise or imply that they provide healthcare services, most offer a very limited set of services. They do not follow medical standards for sexual and reproductive healthcare. No medical professionals work at these facilities, but a visitor can take a free pregnancy test, learn about adoption agencies and pick up pamphlets that inaccurately link abortion to:
- Breast cancer
- Infertility
- Depression
- Death
A recent study of these centers found that almost 2/3 promoted false and/or biased medical claims about pregnancy, abortion, contraception, and reproductive health care providers. Anti-abortion centers provide virtually no medical care.
National and Regional Scale
Nationwide, anti-abortion centers outnumber real abortion clinics by 3 to 1. In some states, like Georgia, that ratio is even higher — closer to 7 to 1. These centers appear to be local but are part of a global anti-abortion network.
| Location | Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Total anti-abortion centers | ~3,000 |
| California | Total anti-abortion centers | 170 |
| United States | Center to clinic ratio | 3 to 1 |
| Georgia | Center to clinic ratio | 7 to 1 |
Georgia is currently in the top 10 states with the greatest numbers of these anti-abortion centers. Meanwhile, due to a lack of legitimate pregnancy care providers and birth facilities in many areas, Georgia is also regularly in the worst 2 states for rates of maternal deaths per capita.
Funding and Legislative Impact
Government funding for anti-abortion centers is an increasing nationwide trend. As long as states fail to regulate anti-abortion centers, advocates say, calling itself a sanctuary state won’t change the fact that patients standing on the sidewalk are often confused about what they’re seeing.