Washington county: Christian pregnancy centers must put up “not a health care facility” signs

“Crisis pregnancy centers” have been getting a bad rap lately. To be fair, that’s because they’re abject cons by religious groups who try to lure pregnant women under the guise of being legitimate medical clinics and then pump them full of anti-abortion fearmongering. Just lately we’ve seen centers in Illinois sue over a new requirement that physicians inform pregnant patients of all available options, including abortion, whilst an Alabama “pregnancy counselor” attacked a 12-year-old rape victim over a court’s decision to allow her to terminate her pregnancy. Their quality as people is about on par with their qualifications as doctors.

So if states can’t shut these frauds down, the least they can do is try to warn would-be patients about what these “clinics” really are – or aren’t. To that end, officials in King County, Washington have implemented a new rule:

Facilities commonly referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” many of which are faith-based, will be required to post a sign telling patients they are not health-care facilities, under a new rule approved Thursday by the King County Board of Health.

After emotional public testimony, mostly against the signs, nine of 10 board members voted for the rule saying their action was meant to bring transparency and accurate information to pregnant women. […]

[Councilwoman M. Lorena] González said the rule aims to ensure that women are not deceived by health care information given by people who are not qualified to dispense it.

The new rule requires that the pregnancy centers, also known as limited-service pregnancy centers, post a sign saying, “This facility is not a health care facility.” That sentence must be posted in 10 languages, including English, with all of the languages in 48-point type size.

This will apply to the eight “pregnancy centers” currently operating in the county. Failure to comply will cost $100 per day.

Note that the rule doesn’t shut the clinics down, nor even force their staff to seek actual medical training if they want to pose as doctors. It simply informs anyone visiting these clinics that they are not, in fact, medical centers. It literally just forces them to tell the truth … no matter how anathema that is to their very nature.

And their supporters aren’t happy about it.

“They did tell me about all options available,” said Jessica Johnson of Seattle[.] “Everyone knows where you can go if you want an abortion[.]”

[Dissenting councilwoman Kathy] Lambert offered similar reasoning for her dissent, saying an internet search will provide options for contraception and abortions.

Except that’s not how it works. Your doctor is the one who’s supposed to give you the right medical advice and inform you of all possible treatments. If you have to go home and Google your options afterwards, your doctor isn’t doing their damn job. Yet that’s exactly what these people are defending. It’s transparently mendacious.

Another supporter added this:

Jonny Nicoli, a supporter of the centers, scoffed at the idea that the rule just required signs. “That’s the same way a powerful government oppressed the Jewish population, by putting up signs,” he said.

Those poor, oppressed anti-abortionists. Forcing them to tell the truth about their lack of medical credentials is just the first step towards rounding them up, forcing them into ghettos and eventually and putting them on trains. Just you watch.

Actually, all you’ll learn from watching them operate is that they can spend years lying blithely to their patients with few to no consequences. Even this rule doesn’t penalize them for shoveling bullshit – it just warns anyone entering those clinics that they should have a wheelbarrow handy.

(via Friendly Atheist)