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In this issue...
Front & Center
Jerry Thacker
Yellow Pages
Advertising for
the Novice
Marjori Masitto Krause
The Perilous
Pursuits of Stem
Cell Research
Mark B. Blocher
Responding to
NARAL's Attacks
Thomas A. Glessner
Learning to Love
Debra O'Leary
Nickel-and-Diming
It for Life
Dinah Monahan
The Joys of
Fundraising
M. Thomas Lothamer,
with Michele D. Shoun
Choices!
Laura Baker
Marketing 101
Jerry Thacker
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PHOTO BY TERRY WILD STUDIOS
By Thomas A. Glessner
Since the early 1980s, the abortion industry has consistently attacked the work of pregnancy help centers. Charges of being deceptive and misleading have been leveled at centers all over the country, and those working hand in hand with the abortion industry have filed numerous lawsuits with the express goal of closing down allegedly "fake" clinics.
The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), one of the nation's foremost abortion proponents, recently announced a renewed attack on the work of pro-life pregnancy help centers. NARAL has produced a booklet entitled "Unmasking Fake Clinics" which lays out its game plan to slander, disrupt, and close down the life affirming work of pregnancy help centers.
The NARAL publication begins by airing tired old accusations that pregnancy centers are fraudulent, misleading, and bogus clinics. To bolster its case, NARAL cites three out-dated court cases against centers that occurred in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. NARAL warns its supporters of the growing strength of pregnancy centers by stating:
Evidence of the strength of the CPC movement is drawn not only from their growing numbers and connection with national anti-choice organizations, but also from their enhanced credibility. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the CPC movement was on the defensive due to publicity surrounding lawsuits brought by states, pro-choice groups, and individual women against CPCs for their deceptive practices. While CPCs continue to lure women into their facilities under false pretenses and to provide inaccurate and misleading information to women behind closed doors, the CPC movement is rehabilitating its public image and obtaining increased support from state governments and Congress.
The publication goes on to spell out in great detail strategies for pro-abortion activists to use to close down pregnancy centers in their communities. Among these strategies NARAL suggests that pro-abortion activists:
- Send plants into centers of different racial identities to attempt to prove racial discrimination. NARAL blatantly states: "The goal of this investigation is to collect evidence for possible litigation." NARAL further says: "Consider equipping your volunteer investigators with tape recorders so that they can secretly tape CPC 'counseling sessions.'"
- Make calls to pregnancy centers following a detailed phone script in an attempt to "find out whether CPCs ... provide false and misleading information over the telephone."
- Obtain CPC applications for Tax Exemption from the IRS and Forms 990 from the IRS or directly from the center in order to find out the financial status of centers. NARAL states: "This information will enable you to identify specific goals for your campaign, such as enacting legislation that requires entities receiving government funds to provide information that is medically and factually accurate or convincing donor agencies not to fund deceptive CPCs."
- File complaints with state agencies against CPCs for false and misleading advertising and pursue individual litigation against CPCs for the express purpose of closing them down.
Responding to the Attacks
It is important to remember that these attacks are not new. They are the same anemic accusations the abortion industry has leveled against CPCs for twenty years. This campaign should not be taken lightly, but remember that such campaigns have failed to have a major impact in the past. If centers continue to operate in a legally responsible manner, they should not worry about this campaign.
To respond to this latest attack launched by NARAL, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) advises that centers immediately do the following:
- Review the legal advice and counsel NIFLA has provided in The Legal Primer for Pregnancy Help Centers and all of the "Legal Tips" that NIFLA has sent out on a monthly basis over the years. (The primer is available when a center becomes a NIFLA member.) This is a large body of material, and it may take some time to review all of it. However, the material in the primer has been written to address precisely the issues which NARAL raises in its campaign. If, after reviewing this material, there is an area in which you find your center weak, make organizational changes to address the particular legal concerns raised. Of specific importance in the primer is Chapter Five, which deals with legal issues in the counseling room. Such material should be reviewed with your counselors, and if any policy changes are needed, make them.
- Consider sponsoring a NIFLA legal training session. Such sessions are for boards of directors, staff members, and volunteers and cover legal issues for CPCs. You might consider partnering with a neighboring center to sponsor such an event and share the costs. You may call the NIFLA office to obtain information about the cost and to schedule a training session.
- Make sure you are adequately insured. Then, if you become a defendant in a lawsuit, your insurance company will pay the costs of litigation, including attorney fees. Renzi and Company is an insurance agency that provides low-cost insurance coverage for pregnancy help centers. They can be reached at 800-859-2724.
- Keep NIFLA advised of any adverse actions against your center including negative letters written to the newspaper, picketing, and the appearance of suspicious clients who may be spies.
To get the whole game plan, you might attempt to purchase a copy of NARAL's report entitled: "Unmasking Fake Clinics" by calling the NARAL office at 877-968-3324 or visiting www.naral.org/cfa/cakits.html#fake. We have been advised that NARAL is now refusing to send out this publication if it suspects you are a "CPC sympathizer." The cost of this document is $3.00.
All of the major national pregnancy help center organizations have combined efforts to produce a response to the NARAL publication. By calling Care Net (703-478-5661), your center may obtain a copy of this publication entitled: "Serving Clients with Care and Integrity: A Step-by-Step Guide for Responding to NARAL's CPC Campaign." Your board of directors should review this document carefully and make sure that the suggestions contained therein have been implemented to protect your center. (Special thanks are due to Kurt Entsminger, general counsel for Care Net, for his hard work in producing this publication.)
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mr. Glessner is the president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (www.nifla.org). |
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