In a 39-9 vote, with one abstention, the City Council passed a bill to bring more transparency to women's health services. Specifically, it is targeted at "crisis pregnancy centers" to clearly state they do not provide abortions and do not provide licensed medical care. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, "The goal of this bill is to ensure that women are fully informed and not deceived. Women need to know, they have a right to know, whether they are consulting with a licensed medical provider."
A recent Daily News story illustrated the debate over crisis pregnancy centers: Converted buses are set up near Planned Parenthood centers or abortion clinics, with workers saying, "We can do a free ultrasound and help you with prenatal care, all you have to do is say yes to life." However, the CPCs are not licensed medical providers, and City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin (D-Manhattan) said, "If you're going to be giving sonograms, it should be under the supervision of a doctor." Another critic, Lisa Maldonado, executive director of Reproductive Health Access Project in Manhattan, said, "There are more crisis pregnancy centers than there are abortion clinics. And they usually lure women in with advertising for free medical care, provide biased counseling and apply pressure tactics."
Chris Slattery, founder of EMC Frontline Pregnancy Center, a CPC, told the News, "The city has abysmally treated women as garbage and says, basically, if you have a job or are in school, get rid of [the baby]." And City Councilman Daniel Halloran (D-Queens) said of the bill, "This bill is unconstitutional." (The NYCLU says the way the bill is written should stand up to constitutional challenges.)
Mayor Bloomberg is expected to sign the bill into law.
