After Learning About Unlicensed Clinics, 74% of Voters Want Their Elected Officials to Take Action to Hold These Clinics Accountable
On Thursday, May 16 at 10:00am EST, Congressman Dan Goldman of New York joined Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch and the Campaign for Accountability to discuss unlicensed clinics (also known as “crisis pregnancy centers” and “pregnancy resource centers”) and their deceptive representations of personal health information privacy standards as they target vulnerable women seeking medical care. The call also included results from recent polling from Global Strategy Group on the public’s distrust of these unlicensed clinics, which finds that when voters are made aware of widely documented misconduct, 74% of voters want their elected officials to take action to regulate these clinics.
Unlicensed clinics are deceiving women into giving them their personal health information. These clinics do not operate under the same legal obligations as doctors’ offices. They don’t have to follow the laws regarding protecting patient confidentiality and are not required to put the best interests of their clients above their own goals. And recent analysis revealed unlicensed clinics annual revenues topping $1.4B in 2022, alone.
Polling conducted by Global Strategy found that while voters currently know little about unlicensed clinics, they want them to meet health and safety standards and want elected officials to take action. For more poll results, see GSG’s memo here.
Congressman Dan Goldman recently introduced the Abortion Care Awareness Act aimed at increasing medically accurate abortion awareness across the country, and Campaign for Accountability recently filed complaints in New Jersey, Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania calling on the states’ attorneys general which allege CPCs are making deceptive claims about their personal health information privacy practices.
“Crisis pregnancy centers cannot be allowed to deceptively prey on women across America,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Women seeking abortions and other reproductive health care deserve accurate medical information and to be free from having their confidential health information collected by bad actors. As Republicans across the nation continue their war on women and plan to further erode abortion rights in the country, it is imperative we do everything in our power to protect women’s freedoms, including stopping crisis pregnancy centers’ manipulative and unregulated practices.”
“It’s undeniable: Voters from across the political spectrum are appalled that elected officials would allow these unlicensed clinics to operate without health and safety standards,” said Global Strategy Group senior vice president, research, Joey Teitelbaum. “Even before voters hear a single thing about these so-called crisis pregnancy centers, 51% support regulating them and that number rises to 74% when they learn more. Regulating these unlicensed clinics is not just good policy, it’s good politics.”
“Campaign for Accountability believes no one should be tricked into sharing their confidential health information,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of Campaign for Accountability. “Based on apparently deceptive claims of HIPAA compliance, we filed complaints in five states calling for the attorneys general to investigate the privacy practices of these organizations. This is not a partisan issue. Even Attorney General Raul Labrador of Idaho said our complaint was being reviewed by the state’s consumer protection division.”
“The unlicensed clinic industry comprises some 3,000 organizations operating in all 50 states that are almost all affiliated with just three industry networks – Care Net, Heartbeat International, and NIFLA,” said Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch executive director Debra Rosen. “The vast majority are unlicensed, unregulated, and target low-income, young, and people of color with the promise of “free and confidential” pregnancy and reproductive health services including medical care, counseling, and material support. There is currently no objective evidence of their value and efforts to understand better their potential value is met with aggressive opposition from industry leaders and their allies.”
For a full recording of the call, please contact nicole@stratagem-initiatives.