Friday, January 29, 2010

Planned Parenthood on the Attack

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Thank you to those who attended the hearing in Olympia this past Wednesday and are supporting the Pregnancy Centers.

Planned Parenthood is waging an all out assault on the Pregnancy Centers across the state.

If you have not yet contacted your elected officials, please do so now.

Contact your State Senator and tell he/she you strongly oppose SB 6452.

Contact your State Representative and tell he/she you strongly oppose HB 2837.

To find your elected officials you may go to our home page and click "Legislators".

To give you an idea of how strongly Planned Parenthood is attempting to shut down the Pregnancy Centers, I have included a copy of the email they sent out Thursday, the 28th, following the hearing on Wednesday.

Below is a copy of their email.

The following is an email sent to their financial supporters:


Limited Service Pregnancy Center Legislation

Yesterday the Health and Long-Term Care Committee held a hearing on SB 6452, regarding Limited Service Pregnancy Centers (LSPC). We wanted to give you a report back from the hearing and also ask you to take action now by contacting key legislators who need to hear from you TODAY.

When we got to Olympia yesterday at 7:30am, the line to get into the hearing room was out the door. We had a lot of great support from people just like you, who put on bright pink t-shirts and packed Hearing Room 4 in the Senate’s Cherberg Building on the Capitol Campus. But now we need your help to shore up support for this important bill from key legislators like yours.

We see it in our health centers every day: Women go to limited service pregnancy centers for medical care and unbiased pregnancy options counseling. Instead, they get false or misleading information about reproductive health care, their medical records are withheld, and they are denied needed referrals for reproductive health care.

If you couldn’t make it to Olympia yesterday, we need you to tell your legislator that you support SB 6452/HB 2837. Will you join us today in making sure that women receive accurate information about their health care? Please send the letter below.

Thanks for all that you do on behalf of women in our state -

Jennifer, Dana, Faye and the Planned Parenthood Votes Washington team

Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Your Representative (if you live in Washington)
Your State Senator (if you live in Washington)


Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Please support SB 6452/HB 2837

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

I strongly support SB 6452/HB 2837, Concerning Limited Service Pregnancy Centers, and urge your support of the bill as well. Women deserve to receive private, transparent and accurate health information. Limited Service Pregnancy Centers, sometimes called "crisis pregnancy centers", offer free pregnancy tests and "pregnancy options counseling". While some of these centers do good work, there are many in our state that provide false or misleading information about reproductive health care to women in times of crisis. There have been many reported instances where medical records have been withheld, or women are denied referrals for the care they need. This bill does not prevent these centers from saying that they are opposed to abortion or birth control. This bill does ensure that, if these centers are offering medical information, it must be accurate information and patient privacy safeguards must be in place. Most of these centers are not regulated at all, because - al though they call themselves "clinics" - they offer no medical care or diagnosis. Washington women deserve to have access to the information they need to make the choices that are right for them. Please stand up and protect the health and safety of women in our state. Please support SB 6452/HB 2837.

Sincerely,


What's At Stake:

Also called "crisis pregnancy centers" or fake clinics, LSPCs offer free pregnancy tests, "pregnancy options counseling," and ultrasound imaging. They are opposed to abortion. Some call themselves "clinics," but most provide no medical care other than free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds without medical diagnosis. Women go to these centers for medical care and unbiased pregnancy options counseling. Instead, they get false or misleading information about reproductive health care, their medical records are withheld, and they are denied needed referrals for reproductive health care.

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