Today, Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch hosted a virtual briefing to present new research on Unregulated Pregnancy Clinics (UPCs), also known as crisis pregnancy centers, and provide analysis of the broader reproductive health landscape nearly three years after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision stripped federal protections for abortion care.
As abortion access becomes increasingly restricted nationwide and federal and state funding for health care faces cuts, the UPC industry is operating with limited oversight and transparency while positioning itself as a key provider of medical care for women across the country, a sentiment echoed at the highest levels of government. The briefing presented findings showing how legislators are redirecting taxpayer funding to these UPCs while rejecting patient safety protections through regulatory oversight, creating a dangerous model for women’s health care at the very moment qualified reproductive and maternal health care is under systematic attack. Speakers also addressed the Supreme Court decision to hear an appeal from a UPC in New Jersey resisting efforts to disclose the credentials of individuals allegedly providing medical care to vulnerable patients.
“As we approach the third anniversary of Dobbs and confront an expanding wave of reproductive health restrictions, a concerning pattern is coming into focus. The same lawmakers working to dismantle access to abortion, birth control, and even evidence-based maternal health care, are elevating UPCs as a health care alternative while systematically dismantling access to qualified reproductive and maternal health care,” said Debra Rosen, Executive Director of Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch. “At a moment when extremist lawmakers are systematically dismantling access to qualified reproductive and maternal health care, understanding the unregulated industry they’re increasingly promoting as a model for healthcare is not just urgent, it’s essential.”
“Their provision of non-diagnostic ultrasounds, which is on the rise, raises particularly serious concerns. The UPC industry promotes use of ultrasounds for non-medical purposes, and industry leaders are pushing UPCs to use invasive transvaginal ultrasounds on clients,” said Jenifer McKenna, Senior Advisor of Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch. “As evidenced by statements from major UPC networks, ultrasounds are framed not as a diagnostic or clinical instrument but as an emotional and visual strategy to foster maternal bonding and influence pregnancy decisions, often regardless of the client’s expressed wishes or medical needs.”
“UPCs have been allowed to pose as medical centers without following any real rules. These centers gather personal information. They take public money, they promise help that they’re not trained or licensed to give, and they do this because there are few, if any, laws to regulate them,” said Gloria Totten, Founder and President of the Public Leadership Institute. “Health care should be honest, accountable, and safe. We have a profound responsibility, and our lawmakers know it. They must protect public health by enacting standards that prevent harm and stop allowing ideology to masquerade as medicine.”
“Despite offering a much smaller set of services, a UPC is about twice the size, financially, than the free health clinic. But really, what becomes even more interesting is when you drill down into cost per client served, we see that the UPC is reporting almost four times the cost per client than a nonprofit health clinic. The sort of natural question out of that is, where is the money going? What are they using the money for?” said Mika Matsuno, Director of Research and Strategy of Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch. “Looking at expenses breakdowns from the UPC and the free clinic, […] we can see already at a glance that the free clinic is spending much more of its money on programming than on the overhead or fundraising costs.”
If you’re interested in speaking with Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch Executive Director Debra Rosen about our research on unregulated pregnancy clinics, please email Rodericka Applewhaite at ro@focalpointstrategygroup.com.
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