Connecticut Bill Tries to Censor Pregnancy Centers That Provide Women Abortion Alternatives

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Feb 9, 2021   |   1:54PM   |   Hartford, Connecticut

Connecticut abortion activists are slandering the vital work of pro-life pregnancy centers that help thousands of mothers and babies every year, pro-life advocates in the state said recently.

On Wednesday, the state Public Health Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on a bill that would punish pregnancy centers for “deceptive” advertising as determined by the Connecticut attorney general, Breitbart reports.

“This is a bill that is providing a solution for a problem that we just don’t have,” said state Sen. Heather Somers, according to the Hartford Courant. “… No one wants to see women be deceived, but it’s just not happening in the state of Connecticut. These centers have helped over 35,000 women in the state of Connecticut, and they take not one dime of money from the state.”

State Senate Bill 835 is described as An Act Concerning Deceptive Advertising Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers, and state Attorney General William Tong supports it. In 2019, he argued that the legislation is important because pregnancy centers may delay or prevent women from getting “safe” abortions, according to the report.

But pro-life leaders said the bill is part of a larger pro-abortion campaign to dissuade women from choosing life their babies and to discredit the vital support that pregnancy resource centers provide.

ACTION ALERT: Contact the Public Health CommitteeContact state lawmakers. 

“The bill offers no specifics on what language is considered deceptive yet it forces pregnancy centers to pay for ‘corrective advertising’ if their ads are deemed deceptive,” according to the Family Institute of Connecticut. “It would, in essence, put pro-abortionists in charge of deciding what is acceptable advertising for pro-lifers.”

The institute said the bill almost certainly is unconstitutional.

The Connecticut Pregnancy Care Coalition accused NARAL Connecticut, an abortion advocacy group lobbying for the legislation, of “slanderous and misleading statements” against pregnancy centers.

“NARAL CT wants the public to believe that pregnancy resource centers masquerade and advertise as full service women’s health clinics, misleading women, but this is not the truth,” the coalition said in a statement. “Connecticut’s pregnancy resource centers offer support to pregnant women which is usually not available through any other service provider.”

NARAL’s real goal is to keep women from seeking help at pregnancy centers and ultimately close them down, the coalition said. If it succeeds, thousands of women and children will lose access to vital support, it continued.

The Family Institute of Connecticut said there is no substantial evidence that pregnancy centers are deceiving clients, and they already make it clear that they do not do abortions or refer for them.

“The bill assumes that pregnant women and their partners seeking information on making a pregnancy decision are not interested in other options and abortion alternatives,” it continued.

More abortions appears to be the real goal of the legislation. Pro-life pregnancy centers take away from the abortion industry’s profits by helping mothers choose life for their babies.

Across the United States, approximately 2,700 pro-life pregnancy centers provide vital support to pregnant and parenting families every year.

According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, these centers served almost 2 million people in 2019, providing more than 730,000 pregnancy tests, nearly half a million ultrasounds, 1.3 million packs of diapers and more than 2 million baby outfits.

ACTION ALERT: Contact the Public Health CommitteeContact state lawmakers.