CALL AND KEEP CALLING: FAKE CLINICS HARMING FLORIDA WOMEN!!! COMMITTEE VOTE IS WEDNESDAY JAN 10

The Crisis Pregnancy Center bill has been put on the Senate Appropriations on Health and Human Service Committee for next Wednesday, January 10^th  from 4:00pm-5:30pm. This is the second committee stop for the CPC bill in the Senate.

1       If you are in Tallahassee, we would love to work with you to testify or waive in opposition of the legislation. Please let me know as soon as possible if you will be available to speak or waive and we will be able to provide you any talking points and prep you may need.

2       We would like to flood call into these targeted members’ offices. Below are the numbers for their Tallahassee offices.

a.       Chair: Senator Anitere Flores (R)- (850) 487-5039

b.       Vice Chair: Senator Kelli Stargel (R)- (850) 487-5022

c.       Senator Dennis Baxley (R) - (850) 487-5012

d.       Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R) - (850) 487-5028

Here are some facts for the CPC bill in case you need any further talking points but the bottom line for these calls would be to say, “Please vote no on SB 444, which would legitimize these entities that are pretending to be medical providers but do not provide medically accurate information, delaying and risking the health care of women across the state.”

Fact Sheet: Crisis Pregnancy Centers - Fake Clinics Harming Florida Women

“Pregnant women absolutely need objective, accurate information and superior services in order to make the best decision. Crisis pregnancy centers offer the exact opposite of that. They lie, they scare, they humiliate. These are in no way medical institutions and everyone deserves to know this before they walk into a CPC.” – NARAL Pro-Choice America

What are Crisis Pregnancy Centers?
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) are anti-abortion, often religiously affiliated organizations masquerading as women’s health clinics while failing to provide comprehensive, evidence-based medical care. CPCs use deceptive and manipulative practices to ultimately shame women out of getting reproductive care – particularly birth control and abortion. These fake clinics use deceptive advertising practices such as intentionally placing advertisements under the “abortion services” heading of phone and Internet directories and choosing names that are similar to abortion clinics to confuse women about what types of services they provide. People who are pregnant and seeking health care deserve timely access and a full range of care options, not medically inaccurate information pushed upon them by fake clinics.

Florida lawmakers in recent years have repeatedly attacked women’s health care, in particular targeting access to safe and legal abortion. One of these avenues of attack by legislative leaders has been the funding of CPCs with taxpayer dollars, despite their pervasive use of medically inaccurate information, their practice of intentionally misleading and shaming women, and a complete lack of state oversight to protect Floridians from these harmful tactics.

How many CPCs are there in Florida?

There are at least 120 CPCs operating in Florida. Many of these CPCs locate themselves in close proximity to legitimate reproductive health care facilities. Many patients have mistakenly visited a CPC because it was on the same street—or even next door—to the actual abortion provider where they had an appointment.

What’s the latest on Florida CPCs?

On August 21^st, 2017, Rep. Jackie Toledo (R-Tampa) introduced HB 41, which legitimizes and permanently funds with taxpayer dollars CPCs that oppose abortion and judge, shame, and mislead women. This legislation intentionally restricts women’s access to the full range of health care services by funneling public funds to providers that exclusively “promote and support childbirth,” while cutting out qualified medical providers who offer the full range of family planning services including birth control and safe, legal abortion care.

The qualified family planning providers who would be denied funding by this harmful bill simply because they provide evidence-based care—such as birth control, unbiased reproductive health counseling, or referrals to safe and legal abortion services—might be the only providers for miles around, leaving women in many areas of our state with reduced access to the quality medical care they need. HB 41 is a revival of a similar bill, SB 1130, which passed the Florida House but did not pass the Florida Senate in 2017.

What policy position on CPCs does Floridians for Reproductive Freedom support?

First, Florida taxpayer dollars should not be allocated for use by ideologically driven organizations that mislead women and jeopardize their health. Second, all women deserve timely and affordable access to the full range of reproductive health care services, including birth control and abortion. Deceptive advertising by CPCs that aims to trick women and divert them from these services should not be permitted. Third, when a woman has decided to seek birth control, an abortion, or discuss her reproductive health options, she deserves access to a qualified medical provider she can trust to provide her with a full range of options and services without an agenda, judgment or deception.