We learned a lot by CompassCare testifying at a hearing of the New York City Council yesterday. For my official testimony click NYC Legislation Regulating Pregnancy Centers.
Pregnancy Centers on the Dock
What we realized at this hearing was that Pregnancy Centers are at greater risk than we thought. The council itself seemed to be colluding with NARAL, Planned Parenthood, the Health Department, the NYCLU, and the Department of Commerce. All questions were staged and scripted using unsubstantiated anecdotes in an attempt to paint a picture of pregnancy centers as coercive and manipulative. The irony of the allegations was thick as they were using the exact same tactics to condemn their opponents-emotional manipulation and coercion. However, this NARAL strategy has become very effective. Their attempt to regulate pregnancy centers at the State and city ordinance level is starting to work in other cities like Baltimore and Austin to say nothing of Washington State. Additionally, the fact that they have now gotten traction in New York city means they are making a national statement. As NYC is the nation’s abortion hub with over 40% of all pregnancies ending in abortion at approximately 82,000 annually it and the State of New York are being used as a testing ground for new allegations in their strategic objective. Given the fact that the leader of NARAL New York endorsed New York’s incoming Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, and is now on the committee to help him make a smooth ‘transition’ into office it would appear that they will be making a broader Statewide effort to impose new regulatory legislation fueled possibly by more official investigations.
NARAL’s most recent strategy has been effective at passing regulatory legislation in other cities. However they have introduced new allegations with real teeth in New York that Pregnancy Center Executives must be aware of. Click the following for an outline of NARAL’s effective PRC regulation campaign: General NARAL anti-CPC strategy 11-17-10
The following are the new NARAL allegations regarding Pregnancy Centers that if proven to be true could result in more serious investigations and possible litigation. They say that Pregnancy Centers:
- Are unregulated and non-standardized even within their own industry
- Harm women and her baby by keeping her from getting pre-natal care as soon as possible
- Harm women by forcing her to delay an abortion since abortion complications increase with each week of pregnancy
- Harm woman financially because abortion becomes more costly the longer she waits
- Illegally provide pregnancy diagnosis without medical license (citing derivative diagnosis by sonographers saying things like, “Your baby is beautiful” without getting physician to verify the pregnancy)
What’s the upshot? Pregnancy centers are in the crosshairs and need to be prepared. Pregnancy centers that provide ultrasound technology need to understand that if they are to survive the coming storm will need to become medical offices providing all patients with medical services through a medical professional, approved and supervised by the medical director. This must be documented on a per patient basis. A new day is dawning and if pregnancy centers want to continue to serve women seriously considering abortion freely and without government regulation they cannot afford to continue to use a traditional global services model with an ultrasound machine on site.
For more information on how to standardize medical services and convert to a linear service model go to prcoptimizationtool.com.