You have probably seen the billboards advertising free pregnancy tests. It sounds great, especially when many people in our state struggle to make ends meet. As physicians, we know financial strain is one of the biggest barriers to the ability to get and stay healthy and to plan and care for our families. Unfortunately, these adverts are not what they seem.
In the midst of a national reproductive health crisis, fake clinics or crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are popping up all over with the goal of deceiving people and convincing them not to seek an abortion – or in some cases even not use contraception. They use misleading names and try to look like medical facilities, but most do not have any trained health professionals or provide any medical care. They also do not follow the basic ethics of evidence-based medicine or follow HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) privacy rules. This poses a massive threat to personal privacy.
These facilities have been known to share patients’ medical information without permission and even if someone seeks care from a reputable facility after visiting a CPC, their privacy is still threatened as their pregnancy status may be disclosed. There is a push for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to clarify who is covered for privacy rules and make clear reproductive health information cannot be shared with law enforcement agencies targeting individuals who may be seeking an abortion.
There are also efforts to ensure that state budgets are not used to fund these deceitful facilities. In 2021, a bill was introduced in Rhode Island to create a program to funnel state money to a local crisis pregnancy center. Fortunately, after an overwhelming public outcry it was defeated. However, in other states, we have seen money taken from public health programs to fund producing materials claiming abortion causes breast cancer even though extensive reviews by medical panels have concluded there is no such link.
Misinformation and outright lies are also being pushed right here in our state even though abortions are extremely safe when performed by qualified health-care professionals. A comprehensive study found less than two percent of abortions resulted in minor complications in the six weeks following the procedure and .002% resulted in complications requiring hospitalization. You have a greater risk from outpatient procedures like wisdom tooth extraction and tonsillectomies, which of course are generally known to be safe.
With no real requirements these places can just open up on a whim – or drive around in a van as is happening right now. Legitimate clinics need to follow strict health and safety standards and hire trained staff. This makes it difficult to expand availability of reproductive health services while fake centers can open with little oversight or logistical considerations. There are only two major providers of abortion in our state while approximately six sham centers are known to be up and running. At one point, there were 11 centers in operation. What’s worse is that their offers of help or free medical care purposely lure people who are already struggling to access health services, thus disproportionately impacting poor women, transmen and gender non-conforming folks, young people and people of color.
We each are entitled to our own opinion about abortion, but this is unethical and downright dangerous. These fake clinics are jeopardizing our patients’ health. We call on our elected officials and state health department to take action. We believe a public health response is warranted. We should not stand by as folks are preyed on, lied to and harmed.
Dr. Ogechukwu Uwanaka and Dr. Megan Smith are both residents at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.
