In my last post I talked about how Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) use false and misleading information to spread their pro-life values to unsuspecting women. Unfortunately the amount of CPCs in America now outnumbers abortion providers by 2,500 to 1,800. Pittsburgh has not been left unscathed by this growing movement.

The Women’s Choice Network is a deceptively named CPC located in the Pittsburgh general area (North Oakland, North Side, Monroeville Mall, and Wexford). Their mission statement (although not listed on their website, can be found on their 2011 990 tax forms) is “to empower abortion-vulnerable women to choose life”. Wait a minute – how can the Women’s CHOICE Network’s mission be to persuade women to “choose LIFE”? Well, talk about misleading information! Even the name of these local clinics is misleading! By using the terminology of the pro-choice movement these anti-choice organizations are able to interact with “abortion-vulnerable” women to see if they can “empower” them into keeping their babies. AKA their goal is to scare women away from the terrible sin of abortion.

The way that the Women’s Choice Network ‘empowers’ all of those ‘abortion-vulnerable women’ is through coercion and false facts. Their website claims to offer relevant information regarding all the choices for expecting mothers: abortion, parenting, and adoption. The problem is that not all of these choices are detailed with the same amount of scrutiny.

CPC’s love to misinform women on the risks of abortion compared to the risks of pregnancy. The Women’s Choice Network is no different. Their website details the immediate risks of abortion as bleeding, infection, damage to organs, and death. Although some of these are indeed factual risks, they are the same risks women face (with increased frequency) during pregnancy.

The website goes on to describe abortion’s long-term risks as premature birth, breast cancer, severe emotional and psychological impact, and “spiritual consequences”. All of these (except for the ‘spiritual consequences’) have been found to be medically false. On top of all this misinformation, it turns out that the Women’s Choice Network doesn’t even refer women to abortion services! So go ahead, ladies, make your own reproductive decisions, but the Women’s Choice Network won’t support you if you happen to make the wrong choice (AKA abortion!).

If the Women’s Choice Network were truly determined to letting women know the truth about their reproductive options, it seems like they’d let women know about the risks associated with childbirth…but they don’t. The only statement the Women’s Choice Network provides women regarding birth/parenting is: “Choosing to continue your pregnancy and to parent can be challenging. With the support of caring people, parenting classes, and other resources, many women find the help they need to make this choice. We offer free services designed to assist you in your parenting decision.”

Parenting sounds like one happy resource after another! But for lots of women, this isn’t the case. Parenting can be a challenge if not a struggle for many women even with the assistance of all the resources available to her and her child. Plus – believe it or not, some women don’t want to be parents!

The Women’s Choice Network of Pittsburgh is a great big lady trap. It plasters the word “choice” upon itself to cover up their anti-choice agenda. They mislead pregnant women into believing they will experience terrible medical consequences if they have an abortion and then showcase birth and parenting through rose tinted glasses. Pittsburgh women deserve accurate information from their health care providers! Sadly the Women’s Choice Network can’t deliver.