A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC), is a type of nonprofit organization established to persuade pregnant women against having an abortion.: 1 CPCs generally provide peer counseling related to pregnancy, childbirth, and not having an abortion, and may also offer additional non-medical services such as financial assistance, child-rearing resources, and adoption referrals. CPCs that qualify as medical clinics may also provide pregnancy testing, sonograms, and other services. However, CPCs have also frequently been found to disseminate false medical information, usually about the supposed physical and mental health risks of abortion, but sometimes also about the effectiveness of condoms and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
CPCs are typically run by Christians who adhere to a strictly socially conservative viewpoint, and they often operate in affiliation with one of three non-profit organizations: Care Net, Heartbeat International, and Birthright International. As of 2017, there were approximately 2,300 CPCs in the United States, as compared with 808 abortion clinics. Hundreds more CPCs operate outside of the U.S., including Canada, Latin America, Africa and Europe. These CPCs often are operated or financially supported by the same American organizations, and use similar tactics as the CPCs in the United States. During the Presidency of George W. Bush (2001–2009) CPCs received tens of millions of dollars in federal grants. As of 2015, more than half of the U.S. states helped to fund crisis pregnancy centers either directly and/or through the sale of Choose Life license plates.
Legal and legislative action regarding CPCs has generally attempted to curb deceptive advertising, targeting those that imply that they offer abortion services by requiring centers to disclose that they do not offer certain services or possess certain qualifications. In 1993, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) was formed to provide legal advice to CPCs in the U.S.
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