Unregulated Pregnancy Clinics (UPCs) advertise themselves to potential clients as if they were comprehensive reproductive health care providers. And there are a lot of ads. Google alone was paid $10 million over two years by UPCs.
So, if you Google “Pregnancy Clinic Arizona,” the top result is “Community Pregnancy Center AZ – Women’s Clinic in Prescott AZ” which is, of course, a UPC. It says: “Community Pregnancy Center is your one-stop Pregnancy Medical Center…”
If you search “Pregnancy Clinic Florida,” the top result is “A Women’s Pregnancy Center – Madison, FL.” This UPC says “We are here to empower women & men facing pregnancy decisions, including parenting, adoption and abortion.”
Search “Pregnancy Clinic Pennsylvania,” the top result is the UPC “Amnion Pregnancy Care Medical Center.” They claim “Amnion Pregnancy Care Medical Center offers a wide range of no-cost services…”
Search for “Pregnancy Clinic Maine,” the top result is “Women’s Clinic in Bangor – Pregnancy Center.” This UPC says they provide “Free Medical Services and Support.”
These are just a few examples. Many UPCs have deceptive names that are intended to sound similar to a conventional doctor’s office, like “CARE Medical,” “Women’s Clinic” or [town name] Medical Clinic. And some even try to seem like an abortion clinic, with names like “Options Clinic,” “Women’s Choice” or “Life Choice Center.”
Naturally, UPC clients have reported that they believed they were at an actual medical clinic, where staff made false claims about reproductive health care under the guise of medical authority. UPCs target people who are young, have lower incomes, and may not be familiar with the differences between a traditional medical clinic and a UPC. These clients are vulnerable; many may be afraid. This vulnerability is exploited when someone who may or may not be an appropriately licensed medical professional makes alarming medical claims to someone in a state of stress. That’s routinely the UPC strategy: use medical impersonation to push falsehoods about the safety of standard reproductive health care.
UPCs operate and advertise several centralized hotlines and online directories to direct clients their way, such as Heartbeat International’s Option Line for phone, text, chat and email center; Directory of Pregnancy Help Centers; Care Net’s National Hotline and their directory of UPCs; as well as the Pregnancy Decision Line and the “Pregnant, Need Help” Hotline.
Between 2021 and 2024, red state legislatures allocated over half a billion taxpayer dollars ($513 million) to the UPC industry.
It is time to counterprogram against the UPCs’ ubiquitous “Pregnant? Need Help?” style ads. While directories exist for all-options clinics, they need to be far better known (and easier to use). Surely, blue states can afford a few million dollars to direct residents to real medical care facilities—this model legislation.