State could sue ‘crisis pregnancy’ clinics under bill

Pregnancy clinics that use deceptive advertising could become the targets of lawsuits by the attorney general, under legislation that won approval Monday by the Democratic majority of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee.

The 20-13 vote sends the bill, which could trigger fines as high as $500 for each incident, to the Senate floor. Two Democrats joined Republicans in opposition to the bill, which was also introduced in 2020 and 2019.

Republicans said that existing laws under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act would likely cover any issues that might come up in cases of pregnant women who go to so-called crisis pregnancy centers. At issue are centers — usually faith-based — that advertise services to women believing they can obtain abortion services, but instead are pressured to give birth or even submit to ineffective medical treatment, including so-called abortion-reversal drugs..

Two GOP committee members said they have several amendments if the bill reaches the floor for debates, prompting Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, cochairman of the panel, to say he will have a bipartisan group within the committee look at possible compromises in coming weeks.

“I don’t know how far afield we can necessarily get from where this bill is, but I think there is a sincere effort on both sides of the aisle to come up with something that is fair and reasonable and not overly burdensome on any particular group that really protects the interests of vulnerable, impressionable, pregnant women,” Steinberg said. Steinberg said Attorney General William Tong needs the legislation because the unfair trade act doesn’t provide enough legal support.

A group called the Connecticut Pregnancy Care Coalition, in a statement after the vote, said that there has not been a proven case of such deception in the state.

“We are deeply disappointed by this vote and the defamatory image it presents to the media of the pregnancy resource centers in Connecticut,” said Lisa Maloney, president of the coalition.

“We have a system now and there hasn’t been one complaint,” said state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, during the committee meeting.

“This is a solution in search of a problem,” said Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, ranking Republican on the committee, warning that it could become a case of government interfering with the freedom of religion.

But Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, DWest Hartford, a chief proponent of the bill, recalled at least two doctors who said patients of theirs had been deceived in a pregnancy center. And many women do not want to reveal their experiences seeking abortions.

“There’s a lot of shame placed on women,” Gilchrest said. “A lot of blame placed on women. Women are actually physically sometimes under attack when seeking abortion in our state and country. To me, this legislation is about creating uniformity across the state and ensuring that regardless of the website that a woman visits, or the crisis pregnancy center she walks into, she receives medically accurate information.”