Greenfield rally organizers to protest practices of crisis pregnancy centers

By BELLA LEVAVI

Staff Writer

Published: 05-11-2023 4:51 PM

GREENFIELD — Local activists will spend the day before Mother’s Day advocating for those who chose not to have children.

Joining a coalition of groups across the state, community members will gather on the Greenfield Common on Saturday, May 13, from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by a march to Alternatives Pregnancy Center at 466 Main St., to draw attention to and protest the practices of crisis pregnancy centers. Similar events are planned in Springfield, Worcester, Marlborough, Lowell, Falmouth and Brookline.

“The goal of this action is to counteract the harmful misinformation spread by anti-abortion centers, support legislation that ensures full access to abortion, and to fight for a more democratic society where all people have the right to reproductive freedom,” Sunderland resident and event organizer Susan Triolo said in a statement.

While efforts to reach a representative of Alternatives Pregnancy Center have been unsuccessful, the nonprofit’s website states that it offers pregnancy tests, ultrasound referrals, pregnancy consultations, abortion information and post-abortion support. However, the organization does not perform abortions.

“We are a nonprofit organization that welcomes the individual with respect for her beliefs and her right to determine the direction for her own life,” Alternatives Pregnancy Center’s “About Us” section on the website reads. “We are committed to offering our services objectively, without judgment, giving information that is factual and complete.”

According to the Attorney General’s Office consumer advisory, crisis pregnancy centers — which rally organizers refer to as anti-abortion centers — are not typically licensed medical facilities and are not typically staffed by licensed doctors or nurses. The office’s website notes that crisis pregnancy centers staffed by unlicensed personnel “are not required to keep your medical records private,” “are not required to follow codes of ethics or standards of care that govern health care professions,” and “often provide inaccurate and misleading information about abortion and the medical and mental health effects of abortion.”

According to a map on Reproductive Equity Now’s website, which the Massachusetts state website refers to, there are 19 state-certified abortion clinics in Massachusetts, with the closest two being in Springfield. The map also points to 30 crisis pregnancy centers. The list includes Greenfield’s Alternatives Pregnancy Center and Bethlehem House of Western Mass in Easthampton.

State and national legislation is being introduced to make the practices of crisis pregnancy centers more transparent. On the federal level, there’s H.R.2736. In Massachusetts, these include S.1114 and H.1599, “An act enhancing access to abortion care. Provisions of these bills would require all ultrasound technicians in Massachusetts to work under the supervision of a licensed health care provider and would provide a permanent list of legitimate abortion providers in the state, which is managed by the Department of Public Health.

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“We want to support all people’s rights to bodily autonomy and accessible health care, including abortion, whether or not they are white or of color, rich or poor, men or women, LGBTQ or gender non-binary people,” said Ann Ferguson, a member of Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution’s Reproductive Justice Task Force, one of the event’s sponsors.

Saturday’s rally will include a keynote speech from Jenifer McKenna, co-founder of the California Women’s Law Center and co-author of the 2021 report, “Designed to Deceive: A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States.” Sponsors include FCCPR, River Valley Democratic Socialists of America’s Reproductive Justice Working Group, Generation Ratify Amherst, Indivisible Northampton and Swing Left Western Massachusetts, Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition’s Feminist Action Team, CodePink and the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice.

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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