In Wednesday’s Cavalier Daily, Leah Nylen had an excellent investigative piece into Planned Parenthood and The Pregnancy Center of Charlottesville, a result of her going to each organization, saying that she thought she might be pregnant, telling them about herself, and asking for advice. Planned Parenthood provided her with a dispassionate, fact-based counseling session in which all information provided was verifiably accurate.
The Pregnancy Center, on the other hand, turns out to be strongly anti-abortion, a fact that they don’t advertise when promoting themselves as an advisor to unwillingly-pregnant women. The literature that they provide is simply wrong, claiming that the birth control pill can cause cervical cancer, breast cancer, increased risk of AIDS, and infertility; that emergency contraception causes an abortion, rather than preventing conception; and that abortifacient RU-486 causes heart attacks, birth defects, and infertility.
Great work on the part of the Cavalier Daily. It’s always great to see investigative journalism being done in Charlottesville.
I think it’s interesting that, according to the story, it was Planned Parenthood that was concerned about her irregular cycles and wanted her to come back for a follow-up, while the Pregnancy Center apparently was not. In other words, she came in thinking she might be pregnant b/c she had missed a period: PP took her health more seriously in that once pregnancy had been ruled out, they remained concerned about her irregular cycles (there are other medical reasons for irregular cycles, some can be serious problems), whereas once the Pregnancy Center ruled out pregnancy, they seemed unconcerned with her health. If not pregnant, why the missed period? PP cared; PC did not seem to care, based on the story.
One could therefore draw the conclusion that PP is concerned with offering gynecological care to women, while PC is concerned with talking women out of having abortions.
So which one gets picketed and needs bulletproof glass and locked doors in the waiting area? The one that provides gynecological care to women, of course…
well done, to the cav daily, i say.
i had been walking past the “pregnancy center” for years and years, assuming it was an abortion counseling clinic, before i realized they were anti-choice activists.