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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Ted Miller, 202.973.3032

NARAL Pro-Choice America Praises Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act

Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s legislation aimed at stopping false advertising comes as leading pro-choice group takes on deceptive online anti-abortion ads

WASHINGTON

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, praised Rep.
Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) for reintroducing legislation that would give
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the authority to protect women from
anti-choice "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs) that use deceptive
advertising practices.

Recent investigations by NARAL Pro-Choice America and its state
affiliates, along with a congressional study, have revealed that most
CPCs are not regulated and engage in false advertising. CPCs often
advertise as if they provide abortion services or counseling, when in
fact they are centers created to dissuade women from exercising their
right to choose. Under the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's
Services Act, the FTC could penalize organizations that engage in these
practices.

"We applaud Rep. Maloney's leadership in making sure women are not
misled about their health-care options," Keenan said. "It's time for
Congress to step in and hold these fake 'clinics' accountable. Even
though we may have differences of opinion on abortion, Americans value
honesty in advertising. We should all agree that a woman should not be
misled or manipulated when she's facing an unintended pregnancy."

Rep. Maloney's bill comes as Keenan's organization has collected more
63,387 signatures on a petition targeting two major online information
sites, YellowPages.com and SuperPages.com. The letter calls on the sites
to enforce their policies against misleading advertising practices.
CPCs are using the sites to advertise under "abortion services," even
though they don't offer this medical care and are not honest about their
opposition to legal abortion.

"It is fine for groups that oppose abortion to advertise, but they
shouldn't be allowed to advertise services they don't provide," Keenan
said.

The CPCs' misleading and false advertising practices are garnering
attention across the country. The city councils of Baltimore, Maryland
and Austin, Texas have passed ordinances requiring CPCs to inform women
of the services they don't provide. Local leaders took this action after
NARAL affiliates published reports showing how CPCs were misleading
women in their communities.

For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.

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