Care 2: An Example of Hypocrisy

Yesterday, I wrote about an email I had received (in my junk mail) informing me of the plight of baby seals in Canada. (See post "I Cannot Understand" for more info.)

While I knew the sender of the email, I didn't look into the group any further at the time, mostly because my blogging time was limited due to my toddler's nap boycott. So later in the evening, I began digging into the originator of the "Save the Seals" message. I discovered that the group goes by the name "Care 2" and that they seem to primarily be concerned with environmental policy (they are VERY liberal), but of course, they also dabble in other areas such as women's "issues". (Surprise, surprise!) In about 5 minutes' time, I stumbled upon this "Action Alert":

Stop Fake "Clinics" from Deceiving Women
Sponsor: Planned Parenthood Federation of America

So-called "crisis pregnancy centers" are rapidly appearing across the nation — a deceitful new tactic of the anti-choice movement to keep women from getting the accurate education and health services they seek.

These fake "clinics" often masquerade as health centers offering the full range of reproductive health services, when their only real purpose is to keep women from exercising their right to choice and family planning. They lure unsuspecting women with the offer of free pregnancy testing or HIV tests. Once inside, the "clinic" staff--usually volunteers with no training -- try to dissuade women from exercising their right to choose by subjecting them to inaccurate, anti-choice propaganda and intimidation.

The worst part? Your tax dollars are funding "crisis pregnancy centers" to the tune of $60 million. A new bill in Congress, the "Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act" (H.R.5052), would stop "crisis pregnancy centers" from deceiving women. Urge your representative to support this important bill.


To be quite honest, I don't even know where to begin. It's almost laughable because, without knowing a single thing about "Care 2", I pretty much nailed what they were all about, at least with regards to the abortion issue. It's not at all funny, however, because the issue is deadly serious.

Let's take this "action alert" apart, shall we?

The alert begins with the naming of "crisis pregnancy centers" as the newest, worst plague upon women since, well...whatever feminist groups complained about last. These crisis pregnancy centers are labeled as "deceitful", yet all crisis pregnancy centers with which I am familiar do their best to give pregnant women ALL their options and are honest about the life growing inside the woman, the option to adopt, how to receive government assistance (if needed), and how to obtain appropriate pre-natal care. Often, they will provide anything from basics like information, diapers, clothing and formula all the way to full care, including housing and health care for the mom-to-be and baby. It is not deceitful to provide all options and to show love and compassion for a scared, hurting woman.

Second, the alert claims that these crisis pregnancy centers advertise as "health centers" (which I've not personally seen, although it could be true). They accuse the pregnancy centers of "luring" the women in with free pregnancy and HIV testing. Of course, Planned Parenthood, the alert's sponsor, does the same thing and even goes so far as to advertise contests to win iPods (see my blog entry "Sales Pitch For Abortions") in a pathetic attempt to lure teens into their "health clinics".

Third, the alert makes the accusation that the women who do go to the crisis pregnancy centers are given "innacurate" information and are subjected to "anti-choice propaganda and intimidation". By "innacurate" information and "anti-choice propaganda" they mean that the women at a crisis pregnancy center are told that life begins at conception and that they are pregnant with a human baby as opposed to a de-humanized "fetus". Of course, what clinics like Planned Parenthood skim over is exactly when that fetus becomes a human baby. In their eyes, that's when the baby is successfully delivered alive, and not a second before. Even then, it would seem that the fetus only becomes a baby if the mother wants it to, since they push for late-term abortions that could be performed up until full delivery of the head. (But that's not "innacurate" or "propaganda", of course.)

When the alert mentions "intimidation", it is most likely referring to some crisis pregnancy centers' use of ultrasound to show the woman a real picture of her baby that would allow her to see the formation of a human being, and in some cases, see and hear the baby's heartbeat. That's the alert's definition of "intimidation" in this instance.

Fourth, and lastly, the alert says that the worst part of all is that tax payer monies are being spent in support of crisis pregnancy centers. Never mind that tax payers are also supporting, to a much larger tune and with no say in the matter, anti-life, pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood. According to Planned Parenthood's 2003-2004 Annual Report, almost a third (32%) of their annual revenue came from government grants (or tax dollars). This number is second only to clinic income, which was reported at 38%.

The hypocrisy here is unbelievable. It's so simple to see the agenda, the double standards and the out-right innacuracies in a case like this, but unfortunately many people are either too lazy to think things through for themselves or too uninformed to care. Either way, the stakes couldn't be higher. This is a matter of life and death and the other side plays very dirty.