July, 15 2011, 12:48pm EDT
NARAL Pro-Choice America Praises Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act
Menendez-Maloney legislation targets so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” that mislead women by advertising services they don’t provide
WASHINGTON
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, praised Rep. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) for their continued efforts to forward 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.
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, which was introduced yesterday, the FTC could penalize organizations that engage in these practices.
"We applaud Rep. Maloney's and Sen. Menendez' continued 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."
This year, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, in partnership with nine of their state affiliates, launched the "Tour to Expose Fake Clinics" in an effort to raise the national dialogue about dangerous practices of CPCs and their misleading practices. In addition, the organization also scored a victory in 2010 when its grassroots campaign successfully convinced Yellowpages.com and Superpages.com to change policies that allowed CPC's to advertise online for abortion related services that they did not provide.
While the evidence documenting CPCs' deceptive tactics is not new, events this year have brought national attention to these facilities and their practices. Notably, South Dakota passed an unprecedented law that requires women seeking abortion care to first submit to an in-person counseling session at a CPC, even if against her will. Thankfully, last month a federal judge preliminarily enjoined the law before it took effect; however, the passage of this alarming legislation only underscores the urgent need for Congress to act to protect women from misinformation and manipulation and pass the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act.
In the last year, anti-choice litigators have launched legal challenges against ordinances that simply would ensure women seeking counseling at a CPC have full awareness of its anti-abortion, anti-contraception agenda. Baltimore, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, Austin, Texas, and New York City enacted ordinances requiring CPCs to post signs disclosing the limitations of their pregnancy-related counseling services.
"If the anti-choice activists who challenged this law really believe that women deserve full information about their medical options, then they should have no objection to these laws," Keenan said.
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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UN Chief Warns of Israel's Syria Invasion and Land Seizures
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
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The 83-year-old Vermonter, who was just reelected to what he says is likely his last six-year term, is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats and sought their presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He has urged the Democratic Party to recognize why some working-class voters have abandoned it since Republicans won the White House and both chambers of Congress last month. A refusal to take on insurance and drug companies and overhaul the healthcare system, he argues, is one reason.
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In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
Khanna—a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act, led in the House of Representatives by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)—made the case that you can recognize those stories without accepting the assassination.
"You condemn the murder of an insurance executive who was a father of two kids," he said. "At the same time, you say there's obviously an outpouring behavior of people whose claims are being denied, and we need to reform the system."
Two other Medicare for All advocates, Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), also made clear to Business Insider that they oppose Thompson's murder but understand some of the responses to it.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
"Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far," she continued. "This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the healthcare to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
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When counting the number of journalists killed by the Israeli army since October 2023 in both Gaza and Lebanon, the tally comes to 155—"an unprecedented massacre," according to the roundup.
Multiple journalists were also killed in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Sudan, Myanmar, Colombia, and Ukraine, according to the report, and hundreds more were detained and are now behind bars in countries including Israel, China, and Russia.
Meanwhile, in a statement released Thursday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced that at least 139 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began in 2023, and in a statement released Wednesday, IFJ announced that 104 journalists had perished worldwide this year (which includes deaths from January 1 through December 10). IFJ's number for all of 2024 appears to be higher than RSF because RSF is only counting deaths that occurred "on the job or in connection with their work."
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