Planned Parenthood does not like the work we do.  It ultimately hurts their bottom line. With the pressure mounting against them, they are on the defense and lashing out at our centers more than ever.  While we are confident in the work the Lord has called us to, it is valuable for us to know the lies our competition is spreading about us in order to successfully win the fight.

Buckle your seat-belt and close the door (in case of a sudden burst of outrage) before you read their lies.  This is taken directly from Planned Parenthood’s main website:

Deciding what to do about an unplanned pregnancy can be very complicated.  It may be made even more so by so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.”  These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion.  They have a history of giving women wrong, biased information to scare them into not having abortions.  These centers may not give you complete and correct information about all your options — abortion, adoption, and parenting.  They may try to frighten you with misleading films and pictures to keep you from choosing abortion.  They may lie to you about the medical and emotional effects of abortion.  They may tell you that you are not pregnant even if you are.  This may fool you into continuing your pregnancy without knowing it.  If your decision is delayed, it could make abortion more risky.  It could also keep you from getting early prenatal care.  They may discourage you from using certain methods of birth control that are very safe and effective (How to Avoid Fake Clinics).

If it were not so sad, it would almost be funny to read their claim that WE are the ones providing biased information.  After all, we make no profit from our client’s decision while PP profits from their abortion procedure and baby.  They continue:

Crisis pregnancy centers often pretend to be real health care providers —but many are not.  These fake clinics often trick women with false advertising.  They may make women think they will be offered unbiased information and a full range of health services.

In their article 6 Disturbing Facts about Crisis Pregnancy Centers, the Huffington Post says: A report released this week by NARAL Pro-Choice America details how Crisis Pregnancy Centers, or CPCs, masquerade as places where women can get information about abortion — but offer no such services.  CPCs are well-known for targeting vulnerable or confused women with misleading ads, and providing them with false information (6 Disturbing Facts).

They go on to talk about how our centers purposefully have vague signage and websites that lead women to believe that we offer services, such as abortion and contraception, that we do not have.  They also talk about how the information we provide is not accurate or medically sound.

While we know the truth about their motives and the truth about our services, we can use these accusations to evaluate our advertisements, office procedures, and materials in order to make sure that none of these claims hold any truth about our centers. Unlike Planned Parenthood, we have nothing to hide!

Do a quick check-up on your center by considering these questions:

• Is there anything that could be considered “false advertising” on your website or social media accounts?  For instance, you should advertise that you give your clients information on their three options- parenting, adoption and abortion.  Do you consistently give your abortion minded clients all of the facts for all three options?
• Do you handle your online reviews and Facebook comments in an appropriate way?  For example, you never want to delete a negative comment.  Instead respond to it kindly or set up your account to ask you for permission before comments are posted to your page.
• Do you encourage past clients to post reviews? While we know that confidentiality is important, some clients would be happy to share a positive review. This is crucial in establishing credibility in the mind of your future clients.
• Is all of your information online or in your materials up-to-date and accurate?  You cannot expect your clients to believe that you have accurate and relevant information if you have statistics from the mid 2000s or graphics from the 90’s in your materials!
• Are your counselors trained to give factual, accurate information in their counseling sessions?
• Does everyone in your office treat each woman with love and respect regardless of her choice?
• Are you advertising that you are a medical facility, but your procedures aren’t professional?

The wonderful thing for us is that we know we have the power of the Lord on our side, and that the facts speak for themselves (as we have seen in the series of PP videos released).  We do not have to be afraid!  He has called us to His purpose.  However, we must use wisdom and discernment in our advertising and office procedures so that we are careful not to give our competition, Planned Parenthood, something to use against us!  Because once again, we have nothing to hide!

_{Bahadur, Nina. “6 Disturbing Facts About Crisis Pregnancy Centers.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Mar. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015
Crisis Pregnancy Centers | How to Avoid These Fake Clinics. Planned Parenthood, https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/pregnancy/crisis-pregnancy-centers. Web 20 Aug. 2015.}