The piece discusses crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) in the United States, which aim to dissuade women from having abortions. These centers often use misleading advertising and marketing tactics to confuse women seeking abortions. There are currently more CPCs than abortion providers in the country. CPCs employ various strategies, such as intercepting internet searches and locating themselves near abortion clinics, to attract women. They also use false medical information to discourage women from having abortions. Some CPCs offer free ultrasounds as a means of emotional manipulation.

- Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) use coercive tactics to dissuade women from having abortions
- Some CPCs write uninvited messages on ultrasounds to manipulate women's emotions
- CPCs have been known to mislead women about the stage of their pregnancy, leading to delayed abortions
- Many CPCs do not provide access to birth control and spread misinformation about its effectiveness
- Some CPCs are affiliated with religious organizations and seek to control women's sexual behavior
- CPCs operate just below the line of being regulated as healthcare providers, allowing them to avoid certain regulations
- CPCs receive government funding, with 16 states directly funding them with taxpayer money
- The assistance provided by CPCs to pregnant women is often limited and not focused on long-term support
- It is easy for religious organizations to establish CPCs and provide women with poor information about their health choices
- A satirical example is given to demonstrate how easy it is to establish a crisis pregnancy center.

The speaker discusses their belief in providing ineffective condoms as a form of birth control and highlights the tax-exempt status and potential government funding for their organization. They express their support for protesting outside abortion clinics and criticize the lack of legal restrictions on such actions.

- Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) in the US use coercive tactics, misleading advertising, and false medical information to dissuade women from having abortions.
- Some CPCs manipulate women's emotions by writing uninvited messages on ultrasounds and provide limited assistance to pregnant women.
- Many CPCs spread misinformation about birth control and are affiliated with religious organizations seeking to control women's sexual behavior.
- CPCs operate just below the line of healthcare regulation and receive government funding in some states.
- The ease of establishing CPCs allows for the provision of poor information about women's health choices.

Crisis pregnancy centers deceptively steer women away from abortion. They can be started way too easily by religious groups like, for instance, a late night talk show’s megachurch.

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Some people believe it should be available and accessible without stigma.

Others think, well, it's not for me, but it's fine for other people in certain situations.

And a few people think it should be banned completely.

And yes, yes, we have talked about it before.

Last time, we looked at the way abortion laws in America have, in many places, made access to abortion difficult, as clinics all over the country have shut down.

But tonight, we're gonna focus on the exact opposite of an abortion clinic.

Something called a crisis pregnancy center.

Facilities whose primary purpose is to talk women out of terminating a pregnancy.

Something they don't often make that clear.

Instead, running friendly looking ads like this.

Before you make the decision about a pregnancy that comes at a less-than-perfect time, get Jelly on the Belly.

Come to Sunrise Women's Clinic, a clinic where our nurses specialize in early pregnancy options.

Jelly on the Belly is a pretty childish way to describe an important medical procedure.

I'm not sure that I would trust a doctor that referred to colonoscopies as looking for cooties in the booties.

-...one of the early pregnancy options that you won't get at Sunrise Women's Clinic is an abortion.

But that can be hard to tell from their vague name and marketing, and that actually happens a lot with CPCs.

Take the Center for Pregnancy Choices in Mississippi.

The website even has links labeled, Thinking Abortion and Thinking Parenting.

And it was founded by a woman named Barbara Beavis, whose very name sounds like that of a sassy mother in a TV show about a family of beavers.

It would be called Hot Damn, and it would be absolutely delightful.

But, once you're inside her CPC, you will find that it is vehemently against any choice that is not carrying a pregnancy to term.

In fact, just listen to Barbara explain where she stands on abortion.

If you say you can kill your baby and it'd be good for you, that's just deception.

Women are made to protect and to guard and to...

The only females made to die for their babies are Pacific salmon.

They lay thousands of eggs and then die after spawning.

Tune in next week for more of Johnny O's fish facts, wildlife wonders, and abortion.

-♪ ♪ -♪ And centers like that 1 are proliferating.

There are now 2,700 pregnancy centers in America compared to less than 1,700 abortion providers.

And the discrepancy is even worse in certain states.

Mississippi, for example, has 1 abortion clinic and 38 crisis pregnancy centers.

So if they are that prevalent, people should absolutely know what they are.

And look, if you believe abortion is immoral, you are, of course, allowed to set up a center dedicated to convincing women of that.

But what is happening with CPCs is that way too often, women with unplanned pregnancies are being actively misled while trying to access healthcare.

And CPCs seem happy to have women confuse them for abortion clinics.

Just listen to Abby Johnson, an anti-abortion activist, addressing a conference for 1 of the largest CPC organizations.

We want to appear neutral on the outside.

The best call, the best client you ever get is 1 that thinks they're walking into an abortion clinic.

Those are the best clients that could ever walk in your door or call your center.

The ones that think you provide abortions.

Normally, the strategy, pretend you're an abortion clinic, is not actually a great marketing stunt.

Although, I am pretty sure that Radio Shack would have tried that if they thought of it.

Oh, sorry, We don't actually perform abortions here, but while I've got you, can I interest you in a gently used USB cord or a Microsoft Zoom?

And the effort to conceal their true intent takes many forms, starting with the name.

Many CPCs have the word choice in their names, like Choices Women's Center, Informed Choices Medical Clinic, and all these other CPCs, all of which feature the words choice in their name.

And I know that almost every product does a bit of misleading advertising.

No 1 would buy Pepsi if they were honest and called it Sad Coke.

Or you wouldn't buy a Mini Cooper if they admitted they were just clown cars for regular people.

And while it should be easy to clarify any misconceptions with a simple phone call, that can be difficult.

Just listen to what happened when 1 woman called a CPC for information, and keep in mind when you listen that the center absolutely, under no circumstances, ever provides abortions.

Hi, I was wondering how much you charge for a first trimester abortion?

Excuse me, it's a policy that we just like people to come in and we can discuss them and, go forward.

So, CPCs can lure women to meet with them on false pretenses.

A term that was coined because, of course, catfish are constantly trying to trick women who are out of their league into fucking them.

But I'm not going to, because we're talking about abortion.

And CPCs can even intercept people's Internet searches, and routinely by Google keyword ads for phrases like abortion and abortion clinic.

And frequently, they'll go even further and try and physically intercept people because they often locate themselves as close as possible to abortion clinics.

For instance, 1 abortion provider in Hartford ran into some real problems with a similarly named CPC, when they deliberately located just 20 feet from them.

This woman, who we aren't identifying, speaks candidly about the difficult decision she had to make after becoming pregnant after a rape.

Eventually, she decided to seek the services of the Hartford GYN.

She initially went for counseling, and she can remember how the clinic's neighbor, Hartford Women's Health, tried to offer unsolicited counsel as well.

They was trying to tug me over the head, and I was like, you know, like, you're making me feel bad.

Now, clearly, that's absolutely horrible, and incidents like that were so routine that the abortion clinic in question, in an attempt to keep its clients from going to the wrong place, painted the ramp outside their door bright yellow, like the Wizard of Oz.

Which is actually appropriate, because that movie, too, involves a young woman getting stopped several times by idiots bothering her with their own fucking issues, as she just tries to get where she needs to fucking go!

And if CPCs can't get a physical location right next to an abortion clinic, they have another trick up their sleeve, and that is buses that can literally park outside and try and tempt women in.

Many CPCs operate mobile clinics with the help of organizations like Save the Storks, a name which really should immediately set off red flags.

Oh, let me go into this van and talk to someone who thinks babies are brought by a deformed pigeon on stilts.

And to listen to them tell it, their vans are an absolute joy to be inside.

These vehicles fit in 1 parking spot and will go right at the door of an abortion clinic.

Every Stork bus has a bathroom on it to be able to do a pregnancy test.

This massage chair, this thing is really good for the back.

We've had a lot of good reviews from pregnant women on

Look, if someone wanted to spend their time in the back of a plush van and then be told not to have an abortion, they just fuck the lead singer of Creed.

And once CPCs have women inside their building or van, they can employ every tactic in the book to try and get them to change their mind.

Literally every tactic in the book, because Heartbeat International, which has 1,400 affiliates in the U.S., has this handbook with suggested scripts featuring some nonsense information.

It suggests telling pregnant women that 35% of suicidal behaviors among women may be attributable to abortion, which is bullshit.

It also says that abortion almost doubles the risk of breast cancer, which is also bullshit.

And while in reality, abortion is far less medically dangerous than carrying a child to term, that hasn't stopped some CPC employees from saying things like this.

If people die due to an abortion later on, a lot of times they're finding parts of the, fetus in, like, the lungs or the heart.

Which is why you're so often reading the obituaries and see Sarah Mitchell passed away last week at the age of 34 after she got baby dicks right in the heart.

And the thing is, that medical advice can actually look pretty legitimate.

Because CPCs often have the trappings of a healthcare facility.

Increasingly, they offer free ultrasounds, which can sound appealing.

But often, they're not performing them so much for medical reasons as for emotional manipulation.

Just watch this Christian Broadcasting Network profile of women who give free ultrasounds in this bus that parks outside abortion clinics.

Just watch as they describe their technique.

They usually start crying as we begin and cover their eyes.

And as we're continuing with the ultrasound, they start peeking out between their fingers.

And we call it a baby, and we call them Mom.

She and all who operate the ultrasound machine will spend as much time as needed with the new moms.

And if that isn't coercive enough, which it comfortably is, technicians at other clinics have written messages uninvited on the ultrasound, like, hi, mommy and daddy.

And if you're gonna write an unrequested ultrasound message, at least be creative about it.

Or, please don't put this on Facebook, Everyone hates that.

And finally, finally, CPCs can and have misled women about how pregnant they are, or have delayed their decision to have an abortion past the point where it's possible.

Watch as 1 doctor describes a case of a woman who came to her in her third trimester, having been under the care of a CPC, that gave her terrible advice.

They told her that she didn't have to worry, she didn't have to rush, there was no time issue, because they do abortion in New York City up until term, which is patently ridiculous.

So when she came to me, she was too pregnant.

She had no intention of being pregnant, and when she became pregnant, during the time of her pregnancy, she'd been using drugs and alcohol.

She very responsibly went to end the pregnancy, and now, I had to tell her, you're gonna have a baby.

And here's the thing, for all the lengths that CPCs will go to to prevent abortions, many of them don't do a key thing that would really help that, and that's give women access to birth control.

In fact, that script from before instructs CPCs, instructs them to tell people condoms are ineffective in preventing pregnancy, and some operators, like Barbara Beavers, are hard skeptics.

Condoms don't, they don't prevent, even used correctly.

There's like a 20% failure rate, even used correctly.

There's a relatively high failure rate of condoms.

I thought if a condom's used correctly, it's 98% effective.

Is it because deep down, even you Barbara Beavers know that your data is complete horse shit?

Because the fact is, if you want fewer abortions, you should love birth control.

You should be filling PEZ dispensers with birth control pills.

You should be giving condoms out to trick-or-treaters, and IUD earrings out as hostess gifts.

Birth control should be your favorite thing in the whole world.

But of course, many of these CPCs are about much more than just abortion.

They're about controlling women's sexual behavior.

Many are church-affiliated, like the Pregnancy care center in Fort Pierce, Florida, which was started by a Catholic priest.

Now, I don't want to say that he had a condescending view of women, but watch him describe the lengths that he would go to to lure them away from entering an abortion clinic.

I remember the time when, they had the fence up in front of the place.

I decided that I would talk to women over the fence by bringing a ladder and getting on top of the ladder and talking to them over the fence.

And so, Of course, that generated a 911 call, because I was now talking down to them.

I was both literally and figuratively talking down to them.

I made it clear to them that they're merely vessels for the purpose of giving birth and nothing else.

I don't actually even see them as fully humans.

Now, quick side note about that particular priest.

Not long after that was filmed, he admitted to violating the boundaries of chastity with a woman who accused him of molesting her for 2 years during what was supposed to be an exorcism.

And some of the details in her allegations are insane.

He kissed the corners of her mouth, stroked her legs, breasts, and thighs, caressed her face, laid his body on top of hers, and frequently explained full, passionate kisses as blowing the Holy Spirit into her.

be described as blowing the Holy Spirit into her.

can be described as blowing the Holy Spirit into someone, you are very much doing kissing wrong.

And, and, unless your idea of an exorcism is making the woman burp a lot, you're also doing exorcisms wrong as well.

At this point, you might be wondering how you can give women ultrasounds and inaccurate medical information and not break the law.

Well, CPCs are very careful to stop just short of the line where they will be regulated as healthcare providers.

And this offers them numerous advantages.

For example, they're generally not subject to HIPAA, a federal law requiring that patient's information be kept private, which is frankly, not ideal in a setting where such sensitive information is being shared.

And if you are not already angry enough at this point, the government actually funds CPCs.

They can get federal funding, and 16 states use taxpayer money to fund them directly.

And they will say, they will say that their fervently held beliefs can justify some of the methods that you've seen tonight.

And they might point to the assistance that some centers provide to young mothers, like parenting classes and free diapers, which is great if those women want to be mothers.

Although, as Abby Johnson advised CPC operators in that conference you saw earlier, that help can be surprisingly limited.

If I were to open a pregnancy center, I would not have pregnancy items past 6 months.

Are we running a place where we want women to become self-sufficient?

Have maternity clothes, have those things available for the women while they're pregnant, but cut them

So the basic argument there is, we're just not in a position where we can take care of a baby forever.

We don't have the time or the resources, so we're choosing not to make that commitment right now." To which I would say, yeah, exactly.

Look, look, the point here is, the real point here is, the tactics that CPCs often use are disingenuous and predatory, and it's absolutely critical that people understand that.

Watch how 1 local news outlet covered the opening of a CPC in the gigantic Care Net network.

Schuylkill County is 1 of the only counties in our area that does not have a planned parenthood.

But that doesn't mean teens don't have a place to go for help.

Care Net of Schuylkill County recently expanded to 2 facilities — 1 for parents and 1 for expecting mothers under the age of 21.

Because if you want all the options available to you, those 2 are not remotely the same.

That's like saying, hey, our town doesn't have a youth sports league, but we do have a large, scary man in sweatpants who will chase your kids around.

And people need to understand this, because right now, it is way too easy for a religious organization to disguise its true nature, establish a CPC, and provide women with dangerously poor information about 1 of their most important health choices.

You may remember, back in season 2, I established the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption with my lovely wife, Wanda Jo Oliver.

Well, last week, we filed paperwork in New York to create a new non-profit, Our Lady of Choosing Choice, to set up our own crisis pregnancy center.

Because our clinic has wheels and we will travel.

Behold our new mobile crisis pregnancy center!

You know that there is absolutely no way that I would open this alone, right?

Praise be, praise be, and welcome to Vanned Parenthood.

Now, in this van, we are allowed to tell women whatever dubious information comes into our heads.

I tell women if they get an abortion, it'll make a ghost baby that'll haunt her hoo-ha forever.

Well, getting an abortion turns your breast milk into kombucha.

After an abortion, your vagina seals shut like an Egyptian

And did you know that I'm not legally required in New York to have any training at all to use this ultrasound machine?

Well, in that case, let's get some jelly on some bellies.

I got grape, I got raspberry, I got prenatal items, and it really just got me bears.

Oh, 0 yeah, there's the baby right there.

You know, I do give out condoms, but I tell people they're 0 percent effective.

Because I cut the tips off these suckers.

Lets you blow the Holy Spirit right on through.

And look, the best part is, just like our church, we are tax exempt and we could be eligible for government funding.

Praise women being too darn emotional to make decisions about their own bodies.

The point is, this is all perfectly legal and there is absolutely nothing stopping us from parking outside an abortion clinic tonight and haranguing people first thing in the morning.

And frankly, there really fucking should be.

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Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)