North Carolina: Planned Parenthood South Atlantic Condemns Budget Funding of "Crisis Pregnancy Centers"

Statement from Lindsay Robinson, NC Director of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic:

“We are deeply disappointed at the increase in anti-women’s health funding included in the proposed budget. This is part of a growing trend in North Carolina to divert taxpayer dollars from organizations that provide high quality medical care to organizations that are driving an anti-abortion political agenda.

“Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) have a usually religious agenda and systematically give women biased, misleading, and frequently medically-inaccurate information regarding pregnancy and abortion in an effort to coerce a woman’s deeply personal decision regarding her own pregnancy and health.

“While CPCs are not health care providers, they often present themselves to women as though they are. There is absolutely no oversight or regulation of these centers by any medical or government entity. Services provided by CPCs can include ultrasounds and pregnancy tests, but are not regulated or licensed by the state. While taxpayer funding for CPCs has increased exponentially since 2011, we have seen no effort to enact any oversight or regulation of these fake clinics.

“As taxpayer dollars continue to be funneled to CPCs in North Carolina, it sends a strong signal to women in North Carolina that their health, safety and wellbeing is not a priority for the state’s legislative majority.

“Women deserve medically accurate and non-directive counseling when it comes to their personal health care decisions. That’s why Planned Parenthood will continue to provide non-judgemental, high-quality care to the thousands of patients who rely on us everyday.”