Supreme Court Ruling In Favor Of Fake Clinics Hurts Women Across The Country
Washington, D.C. —Today, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law that requires transparency for women seeking reproductive health care, including contraceptive services. The California law required fake women’s health clinics—sometimes referred to as crisis pregnancy centers—to display a notice to the public that the clinic was not a licensed medical facility and/or under the supervision of a licensed medical provider when that was the case. The law also required such clinics to provide information about available reproductive health services to women, including abortion services. Fake clinics may often look and describe themselves in ways that lead women to believe they are healthcare facilities where the full range of contraceptive methods can be accessed. However, they are typically not staffed by medical professionals and offer false, incomplete, or inaccurate medical information and few if any clinical services.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision will hurt women seeking to access birth control,” said Ginny Ehrlich, CEO, Power to Decide. “Low-income women and women of color, in particular, face significant obstacles in accessing the birth control that best serves their needs. These women are further marginalized when they find themselves at a fake clinic that fails to provide them with accurate and complete information regarding birth control. Today’s Supreme Court decision is a step in the wrong direction and will only increase the burden on women seeking to access complete contraceptive care.”
Research from Power to Decide shows that more than 19 million low-income women live in contraceptive deserts, where they lack reasonable access to a publicly funded clinic in their county that offers the full range of birth control methods.
“All women deserve the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant,” Ehrlich continued. “Women must have access to high quality, patient-centered contraceptive care that is provided by licensed medical professionals.”
Power to Decide’s online birth control tool contains the largest database of publicly funded clinics that offer the full range of birth control methods. To learn more about the variety of birth control methods available, and where to get them, visit Bedsider.org.