Anti-abortion centers to grow, wield more influence post-Roe

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “Woman’s Choice,” the sign proclaims in bold pink letters. But despite promising abortion information and free pregnancy testing, the facility in Charleston, W.Va., is designed to steer women facing an unwanted pregnancy away from choosing an abortion.

That will become easier now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states like West Virginia can make abortion illegal.

It’s one of hundreds of socalled crisis pregnancy centers nationwide whose aim is to discourage women from seeking abortions. The facilities, which have been accused of deceiving women about their true purpose, are expected to wield more influence in states where the dwindling number of clinics are now canceling abortion appointments.

Often religiously affiliated, the anti-abortion centers are not licensed medical facilities and do not provide services such as preor post-natal care or other health care for uninsured women, unlike clinics that offer abortions — which are subject to government regulations and patient privacy laws. They do sometimes have nurses on staff or as volunteers.

“Basically, these centers are looking around and saying, ‘Our services are going to be needed now more than ever because there’s going to be so many pregnant people who need support during their pregnancy — particularly unintended pregnancies,’” said Andrea Swartzendruber, a University of Georgia public health professor who has helped map center locations nationwide.

Shortly after Friday’s Supreme Court decision, West Virginia’s only abortion clinic announced it was suspending abortion services, but continuing to provide birth control and other services.

The Charleston anti-abortion center, which calls itself the Woman’s Choice Pregnancy Resource Center, has been located next to the abortion clinic for years. The people who run it say their work won’t change. They will continue to offer parenting and health classes, counseling for “women who regret a past decision to abort and wish to find comfort from guilt and sadness“and provide “facts about abortion risks — both physical and psychological,“they said in an email to The Associated Press.

The board also said staff must complete training emphasizing the importance of clients’ “right to be respected regardless of their decision.”

At the clinic next door, the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, executive director Katie Quinonez has doubts about such statements. She has seen patients seeking to end their pregnancies lured into the anti-abortion center and bombarded with warnings about abortion risks. Some who found their way to her office have shared pamphlets declaring that “abortion causes new problems that can haunt a woman for the rest of her life.”

One titled “Abortion — Living Without Regret” shows a woman crying on the cover and lists “abortion risks,” including “suicidal feelings,” “death” and “cervical incompetence.”

While the anti-abortion centers are mostly mum about their plans now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, experts say they’re likely to redouble efforts to persuade women not to end their pregnancies. The logistics work in their favor, since many women won’t have the option of abortion without leaving their state.

The centers have been expanding in every state with support from wealthy conservative donors, powerful state lawmakers and religious institutions. They’ve also received tens of millions of tax dollars funneled to them by conservative state leaders.

Left-leaning states have shown more willingness to regulate how the centers advertise their services. Last year Connecticut banned them from using “deceptive advertising” about the services they provide.

Connecticut had 18 health clinics that provided abortions as of 2018; there are also around 20 pregnancy crisis centers.

“As we head into this new world and into this next phase, I think it’s more important than ever for women to be able to access medically accurate information,” said Democratic Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, who sponsored the Connecticut legislation. “The last thing we want is for women to be at what they believe to be a health clinic only to receive misinformation about their options.”

Nationally, crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics 3 to 1, but in Republicanled states the numbers can be higher, according to a 2021 report from The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Some 2,500 centers are located across the country, while there are fewer than 800 abortion clinics.

In Missouri, which has just one abortion clinic, Swartzendruber and her colleagues identified nearly 70 anti-abortion centers in 2021. The situation is similar in North Dakota, where at least seven centers operated last year and the state’s lone abortion clinic is relocating now that Roe v. Wade was overturned.

In Mississippi, there are 30 centers, while the Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a plaintiff in the legal battle that came before the Supreme Court — was the lone provider offering abortion services.

Those three states are among 13 with so-called trigger laws that banned most abortions after Roe was overturned. West Virginia doesn’t have a trigger law, but does have an old statute on the books that had been shelved while Roe was in place.

“I see states with trigger laws working to continue to fund or increase funding to crisis pregnancy centers and trying to pass new legislation that would make the centers even more prominent,” Swartzendruber said.