Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

Deceptive advertising for reproductive health care hurts CT women and girls

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Jasmine Patel, MD
  • March 11, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

A bill banning deceptive practices at faith-based pregnancy centers was under consideration last March, but the process was interrupted by the pandemic.

Amanda* came to see me in exasperation. I could see it in her eyes. At the age of 17, living with her aunt and cousins, she found herself pregnant and with no one to confide in. She said she had been going to a pregnancy resource center, or fake women’s health center, in Hartford for a few months and voicing her desire to have an abortion. She was repeatedly told to return in another week for her procedure.

There would never be a procedure, they were intentionally deceiving her from the health care she wanted and needed. Now, I was seeing her in the emergency room. A bedside ultrasound revealed she was past the legal limit for an abortion. When I broke the news to her, she wept.

In Connecticut and many states in the country, fake women’s health centers exist to persuade patients to continue their pregnancies to term, despite their own desires. Many of them use deceptive advertising practices, where they claim to medically counsel and offer the full range of reproductive health care options. They pose as unbiased medical clinics, but in actuality spread misinformation to dissuade accessing abortion care.

In Connecticut, a majority of fake women’s health centers operate in municipalities with existing reproductive health care providers. Sometimes fake women’s health centers are even located down the street or directly across from a clinic and use similar names and colors to intentionally confuse patients.

It is important that clear and honest advertising of services is the standard practice. Connecticut women and girls deserve honest and timely medical care when that’s what they are seeking. They should be able to make informed medical decisions about their bodies. Informed means free from judgment, bias, or coercion, not to mention deception.

Fake women’s health centers that use false advertising to deliberately confuse, deceive and delay care for my patients can cause serious harm. Reproductive health care decisions are time-sensitive and should occur between unbiased licensed medical professionals and their patients. This does not include limited services pregnancy centers with an agenda to trick Connecticut women out of having abortions.

As a physician, it was heart-wrenching to see Amanda be deceived by a center posing as an unbiased pregnancy resource. When I took the Hippocratic Oath, I promised to give my patients autonomy, do them no harm, and seek justice in health care. Compared to licensed medical facilities, limited services pregnancy centers do not all have licensed medical professionals, nor do they live by this oath. They do not allow for patient autonomy and instead deceive patients to fit their anti-abortion agenda.

They may be doing serious harm by delaying proper reproductive health care, which affects not only patients but also their families. What’s more, unlike comprehensive reproductive health care clinics, fake women’s health centers are unregulated by the state and are not mandated to comply with patient confidentiality. Unknowing patients seeking reproductive health care and following up on deceptive advertisements by fake women’s health centers may quickly find that the woman in scrubs they are speaking with is in fact not a licensed medical provider nor even obliged to protect her privacy.

Unregulated centers posing to be licensed medical facilities hurt Connecticut families.

As a woman, sister, daughter and friend, it was heartbreaking to see a fellow Connecticut young woman destined to a life she did not want nor choose for herself. We have to help protect our fellow Connecticut women from the deceptive advertising practices these fake women’s health clinics are using.

Patients seeking services at free pregnancy resource centers are turning to these centers for services they may not be able to afford and at a time when they may not know who to trust with their secret. By delaying the journey to end a pregnancy, fake women’s health centers are putting her physical and mental health at risk. The Turnaway Study, which examines the effects of unintended pregnancy on women’s lives, found that women who were denied abortions were more likely to suffer from unemployment, poverty, and domestic violence, in addition to more serious health problems.

The risk of medical complications and mortality increase as a pregnancy progresses. According to a study by Elizabeth Raymond and David Grimes (Obstetrics & Gynecology 2012), the risk of death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than that with abortion. In a world where fake news is rampant, we need now more than ever truth rather than trickery in health care.

To prevent another Connecticut woman from having her fate decided for her, I support SB 144. This bill would simply prohibit false, misleading or deceptive advertising about the pregnancy related services offered by these limited services centers. Patients who choose to pursue services provided by these centers should be allowed to, with full knowledge of the extent to which services are offered. I urge legislators to support SB 144 and prohibit centers providing limited pregnancy-related care from deceiving Connecticut women and girls about the services offered. Connecticut deserves better.

 *Name has been changed to protect the identity of a Connecticut woman.

Jasmine Patel, MD is a Fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health and an Alumnus of the University of Connecticut Health Center Ob/Gyn Residency Program.

CTViewpoints welcomes rebuttal or opposing views to this and all its commentaries. Read our guidelines and submit your commentary here.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut should work to reduce rates of inmate calling services 
by David Lamendola

Many telecommunications issues are really complicated and only interesting to a handful of policy-oriented folks. But once in a while an issue arises that has easily understandable implications for all of society. High rates for inmate calling services (ICS) is one of these issues. The way it usually works is that an incarcerated person make collect calls from detention facilities, and their family pays the bill. Unfortunately, some providers charge extremely high rates for these calls – a 15 minute phone call to a loved one costs an incarcerated person $5 in Connecticut.

The public health bill no one is talking about, but should be
by Brian Festa

On February 16,  the legislature's Public Health Committee conducted a public hearing on two bills, S.B. 568 and H.B. 6423, both of which would eliminate the religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations for Connecticut schoolchildren.  The hearing was capped at 24 hours, depriving nearly 1,500 members of the public who had registered for the hearing their opportunity to be heard.  The vast majority of those who did testify, and who submitted written testimony, opposed the bill.  The committee is expected to vote on the bill as early as  today. 

Students need more resources, fewer officers
by Tenille Bonilla

"School resource officer" is just a nice way to say cop. But what students really need is more resource and less officer.

The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The public health bill no one is talking about, but should be
by Brian Festa

On February 16,  the legislature's Public Health Committee conducted a public hearing on two bills, S.B. 568 and H.B. 6423, both of which would eliminate the religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations for Connecticut schoolchildren.  The hearing was capped at 24 hours, depriving nearly 1,500 members of the public who had registered for the hearing their opportunity to be heard.  The vast majority of those who did testify, and who submitted written testimony, opposed the bill.  The committee is expected to vote on the bill as early as  today. 

Opinion Students need more resources, fewer officers
by Tenille Bonilla

"School resource officer" is just a nice way to say cop. But what students really need is more resource and less officer.

Opinion The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

Opinion How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO