Gender Justice supports new complaint against crisis pregnancy centers in five states including Minnesota
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2024
CONTACT
Noah Parrish, Communications Director
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651.432.0171
Campaign for Accountability has brought a complaint against crisis pregnancy centers for deceptive practices and data collection, and Gender Justice supports the call for action from the state to protect the health and privacy of Minnesotans.
Today, Campaign for Accountability brought a complaint in Minnesota, Idaho, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington against crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) for their deceptive practices and data collection. Megan Peterson, Executive Director of Gender Justice said the following in response:
“Unlicensed and unregulated pregnancy centers, calling themselves crisis pregnancy centers, are deceiving people into giving them their personal health information while pretending to offer a medical service. This is a direct threat to consumer privacy and safety, and we applaud Campaign for Accountability for taking the important step to hold these unregulated pregnancy centers accountable. We urge Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to take the necessary action to ensure the privacy and wellbeing of those who seek care in our state.”
Gender Justice’s comprehensive report, Designed to Deceive found that in Minnesota, unregulated pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics by an alarming 11:1 ratio and do not counsel or provide accurate information about available abortion services. Additionally, more than 90% of these centers do not have a licensed physician on staff, and 80% of them do not have a registered nurse on staff. Unlicensed pregnancy center advertising especially targets women at greatest risk for pregnancy-related prosecution in states where abortion is under legal threat: low-income women, young women, and women of color.
Unlicensed pregnancy centers are not currently held to the same standards as medical clinics, and have no legal obligation to protect client medical data privacy. Further, investigations reveal that client data at these centers is collected and stored in a proprietary anti-abortion movement platform designed to function as one mega-database that “serves the whole movement.”
“Unregulated data collection by so-called CPCs is especially dangerous in a post-Roe world, and it is critical for Attorney General Ellison to take immediate action. We urge him to investigate the client health data practices of unlicensed pregnancy centers and their parent organizations, and take all necessary action to prevent them from deceiving consumers about who is collecting their data, how it is being shared, and how it is being used,” said Peterson.
Gender Justice is a legal and policy advocacy organization dedicated to advancing gender equity through the law. Our vision is for a world where people of all genders, gender identities and expressions, and sexual orientations have the opportunity to thrive. We work towards our vision through impact litigation, advocacy, movement building, and public education.