I’m writing to express my concern about the proliferation of Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) in Minnesota and to call for their defunding, suggesting alternative programs to allocate the Positive Alternatives Grant toward.
CPCs are deceitful, fraudulent organizations masquerading as comprehensive reproductive health clinics. Furthermore, their sheer existence in our community stops people from getting the timely, clinical support and information they need. This is an intentional effort on the part of CPCs, often placing themselves in or near marginalized communities and targeting low-income mothers with free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds. Additionally, CPCs often use “co-location,” a practice of setting up shop near a medical center to boost their credibility and increase the chances people will mistakenly wander in.
The claim that CPCs are inherently deceptive is one with a vast array of evidence, starting with a 2021 study finding that, across the 600-plus centers analyzed, only 16.3% had a physician on staff. Furthermore, most of these physicians are employed only on a part-time or volunteer basis, many of whom hold degrees in unrelated fields such as optometry.
The lying doesn’t stop there, though. In fact, more than 63% of centers in the same study proudly boast inaccurate and biased information on their websites. These claims largely include mental health, infertility, breast cancer and “post-abortion syndrome.” In Minnesota, the rate of these claims is even higher than in the national study.
Seventy-six percent of Minnesota CPC’s link abortion to breast cancer, and 73% claim abortion is tied to future miscarriage. These statistics highlight the prevalence of deception and biased information being freely distributed to impressionable mothers in crisis.
But how do Minnesota CPCs get the money to operate, you ask? That’s right, state grants from the Positive Alternatives Grant Program, which provided more than $3.4 million last year alone. Not only are Minnesota CPCs openly advocating against state-supported abortions, they are doing so under state funding. If this seems contradictory, that’s because it is. If we, as Minnesotans, are a state proud of our position on reproductive rights, why are we funding programs that openly challenge that mission while spreading harmful misinformation?
In answer to these moral questions, I propose that we defund CPCs, instead developing short and long-term programs that more accurately address the needs of mothers in crisis. This means developing community-based clinics in and around marginalized communities, staffed by trained professionals to provide pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, accurate information and more. In addition to defunding CPCs, we must also work towards long-term solutions such as sexual education in schools, providing youth unbiased and accurate information on safe sex practices and prenatal care. By investing in education, we can empower women to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and ensure that all people have the resources they need to avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place.
Tyler Rooks is Masters of Social Work student at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
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