“They are intentionally misleading patients,” Dr. Kristyn Brandi said, referring to crisis pregnancy centers, or CPCs, like Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center in Paterson. It’s one of more than 50 such facilities in New Jersey that advertise with website messages like, “Considering an abortion? We’re here to support you during your unplanned pregnancy.”
But critics like Brandi say CPCs really have just one agenda: “I think that they’re purposely lying to patients — that they’re giving people misinformation to dissuade them from an abortion … and so if these clinics are delaying needed care, they are putting people in danger.”
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin recently issued a consumer alert, warning, “Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) do NOT provide abortion care. CPCs are organizations that seek to prevent people from accessing comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion care and contraception … sometimes by providing false or misleading information …”
The facilities dispute that. An attorney for some New Jersey CPCs said, “When they saw the Consumer Alert they were quite surprised and shocked that there had been any criticism, because they had never received any complaints … and it basically was unfairly tarnishing their reputation, because they don’t believe they engage in any deception.”
