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Reuters: New York City Requires More Disclosure on Abortion
By Barbara Goldberg March 3, 2011 Original available here New York City has approved a measure requiring "truth in advertising" from crisis pregnancy centers that critics said are deceiving women into thinking that they are medical facilities offering abortion. The City Council passed a bill that such centers must state whether abortion is offered, whether birth control is available and whether prenatal care is offered, said Jason Moore, spokesman for the bill's sponsor, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, on Thursday. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to sign the measure, approved by the council on Wednesday, into law. Nationwide there are approximated 4,000 limited service pregnancy centers, with as many as 23 in New York City, according to a report in support of the bill. "This bill is a truth in advertising measure," Lappin said in a statement. "To be clear, it only regulates centers that are deliberately trying to deceive women into thinking they are in a medical facility when they are not," she said. "What those centers are doing is not only dishonest, it is incredibly dangerous. We are passing this bill to protect women and their health." The centers typically are located near hospitals and Planned Parenthood centers, are staffed by people wearing medical garb and offer ultrasound exams but do not provide licensed medical care, the report said. Many of the centers receive both public and private funding from individuals, conservative and religious organizations and large corporations and foundations, such as the Wal-Mart Foundation, the report said. Similar laws ordering more openness about services were passed in Austin, Texas in 2010, in Montgomery County, Maryland in 2010 and in Baltimore in 2009. The Baltimore measure was recently struck down by a federal judge. |
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