No surprise here, but I’m glad that Congress is finally catching on.
Federally funded “pregnancy resource centers” are incorrectly telling women that abortion results in an increased risk of breast cancer, infertility and deep psychological trauma, a minority congressional report charged yesterday.
The report said that 20 of 23 federally funded centers contacted by staff investigators requesting information about an unintended pregnancy were told false or misleading information about the potential risks of an abortion.
Yes, our government is giving money to organizations who purposely lie, mislead and trick women.
The pregnancy resource centers, which are often affiliated with antiabortion religious groups, have received about $30 million in federal money since 2001, according to the report, requested by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.). The report concluded that the exaggerations “may be effective in frightening pregnant teenagers and women and discouraging abortion. But it denies the teenagers and women vital health information, prevents them from making an informed decision, and is not an accepted public health practice.”
Heck, they aren’t even immune to lying to Washington Post reporters:
Ford said, however, that she agrees with pregnancy counselors who tell women that abortion may increase the risk of breast cancer, infertility and a condition described by antiabortion groups as “post-abortion syndrome.”
“We have many studies that show significant medical problems associated with abortion,” she said.
And I have studies that show that the world is flat and there’s no such thing as global warming. Problem is, those studies have been proven wrong.
Those studies are at odds with mainstream medical opinion. An expert panel of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), for instance, concluded in 2003 that an “abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer.” The experts said their conclusion was “well established” by the evidence.
The report, from the Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee, found that counselors at eight of the centers told callers that abortion substantially increases the risk of breast cancer. Some counselors also said the psychological effects of abortion are severe and long-lasting, while research generally has found that severe stress reactions are no more common after an abortion than after giving birth.
And the funding of these centers is a direct result of Bush administration policy.
President Bush has been an advocate for pregnancy resource centers and for abstinence-only sex education. Few of the pregnancy resource centers — formerly called crisis pregnancy centers — received any federal funding before 2001. Care Net’s Ford said there are now about 2,000 centers in the United States and Canada.
Waxman has been a critic of many Bush administration women’s health programs, including a 2002 reference on an NCI Web site suggesting that there was serious debate about whether abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. As a result, the NCI brought together experts to review existing data and came up with its conclusion that no abortion-breast cancer association exists. The statement was later deleted from the NCI Web site.
Is there any doubt that this administration is funding a full-on war on women?