"12th & Delaware" Premieres on HBO: Get the Facts on CPCs
I hope that many of you were able to see the premiere of the HBO documentary "12th & Delaware" last night. Many of my colleagues here at NARAL Pro-Choice America (and our affiliate network) saw advanced screenings of the film in Baltimore, New York City, and Brooklyn, so I couldn't wait to get in on the action.
CONFESSION: I was supposed to live-tweet during the east-coast premiere. I was all prepared, notes and laptop in hand, Diet Coke poured, popcorn popped, remote in hand... and then I became so engrossed in the documentary, I completely forgot to tweet. Thankfully, I could tune in for a repeat performance of the west-coast premiere (thank you, digital cable).
Anyway, NARAL Pro-Choice America and many of our affiliates have been preparing and promoting this documentary for a long time. That's because, for years, the anti-choice movement has been building a network across the country of "fake" clinics - so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs). Our work around these CPCs has always centered on ensuring that women get accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased medical information so they can make their own decisions. That's why it's been so important to us that the public sees this film. As my colleague Kirsten said:
The directors were given unprecedented access to the CPC. They filmed conversations that the CPC director, Anne, had with women seeking help. A true documentary film, [Heidi] Ewing and [Rachel] Grady let the people at the CPC speak for themselves. And boy did they.
The pro-choice community, as a whole, is saying positive things about the film. From the reviews I've read, they all seemed to appreciate the presentation and the tone. The one complaint was that the filmmakers didn't call out or correct the myriad lies the anti-choicers told women in the film. That's not the job of documentary-makers, but it is our job as advocates who care about making sure women get the facts about their health-care choices. So, in that spirit, we've created your go-to guide for dispelling anti-choice distortions and lies.
Below is a list adapted from a series of late-night tweets you should read and share with your friends, family, and loved ones - especially if you are one of the 260 house-party hosts from more than 40 states! So read up, and then share away:
- At one point, Father Tom (who oversees the CPC) chuckles about the time the clinic called "911" because he was at the top of a ladder he'd brought, looking over their fence. Unfortunately for Florida women and providers, the state lacks a law that would protect clinic workers and patients from such harassment. Find out if your state has a law that ensures safe access to reproductive-health clinics.
- During the scene where Anne (the "counselor" who misleads women) is training future CPC workers on how to avoid answering abortion-related questions over the phone while getting women to come to the CPC, keep these facts in mind: Reports have shown CPCs deliberately deceive women about the services they offer. Thankfully, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced a bill in Congress that would hold CPCs accountable for misrepresenting their services.
- CPCs outnumber legitimate reproductive-health clinics across the country. In Florida, where this documentary takes place, 69 percent of counties lack an abortion provider. Find out your state access fact.
- Since 1993, eight clinic workers (including four doctors, two employees, one clinic escort, and one security guard) were murdered in United States.
- Inside the women's health clinic, Candace talks about the dwindling number of providers. You can learn more about the new wave of reproductive-health doctors in this article, originally in the New York Times Magazine.
- Medical Students for Choice helps train the doctors who will continue to provide abortion care for future generations. You can read more about this organization on its website.
- When one woman spoke about her husband forcing her to have sex without condoms, it's important to remember that reproductive coercion can include birth-control sabotage and/or using threats to force someone to have unprotected sex. Read more information from Guttmacher and a recent Businessweek article.
- In one scene, the CPC employee lied to a woman about the risks of abortion, so she tried to self-induce a miscarriage. Read more about the hazards of illegal abortion (pdf).
Keep in mind, this list is a start, so if you saw other parts of the film that gave you pause or prompted you to ask questions, please let us know in the comments.
Most people have no idea how these CPCs operate or, as the documentary shows us at the end, that they outnumber health centers that provide abortion by a five-to-one margin. One of our fans on Facebook looked up CPCs in her home state of Oregon and found 44 such places. That's in Oregon, one of the most pro-choice states in the country.
As we've said before, this film is going to start a conversation about abortion and how women access information about their health-care options. Let's keep that conversation going.
Tags:
Abortion, clinic violence, CPC, Crisis pregnancy center, deceptive advertising, Florida, miscarriage, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Pro-choice, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, reproductive coercion, Sen. Menendez,
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Hi,
The pro-life sites are saying that this CPC is not representative of the majority of CPCs across America. They say that the film-makers picked this CPC because it is a particularly poor example and that they failed to ask any questions at all of the big 'chain' CPCs which treat women with far more respect and care. Do you have any comments to make on this criticism of the film?
Thanks
David
David,
They used this CPC/clinic because of their extremely close proximity to each other. This happens a lot for abortion clinics, but they are not always literally across the street like in the film.
I work in abortion services and I can tell you that just about every CPC works this way. Why - because the people "counseling" already have their mind made up about abortion and buy into the lies they proliferate. It's tragic because they really believe the bullsh*t they've been told. I have to disseminate these lies on a daily basis. Being an independent or "big chain" has nothing to do with it. Their ethics are the same - the only thing that matters is preventing someone else from aborting no matter HOW you do it.
Hi David and Jessica. Thank you both for your comments.
David - Here are a few resources that show the deceptive tactics the CPC featured in "12th and Delaware" is the rule, not the exception. You can see more, especially about the corporate CPCs that have engaged in these practices.
1, Here's our fact sheet on CPCs.
2. Here's where you can access information on our Superpages.com and Yellowpages.com campaign.
3. Finally, watch a quick video by NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia and see what they were told at a Virginia CPC.
I wanted to see the woman called out on the whole ripping of limbs garbage , breast cancer statements in their brochures , and why not talk about how the PL people sat and waited in that parking lot to find out who the Doctor was so they could harass him? Sure they can call it protesting but imo if you have to hide yourself and try to follow someone then something is not okay with what their doing. When I watched that piece of film and thought about the PC people who have been murdered already , harassed , threatened etc it gave me a chill.
thanks for this article I enjoyed reading your perspective and appreciate the additional resources.
I just finished seeing the documentary and I am appalled at these pro activist
Honestly before watching this documentary I had mixed feeling about both sides, but just seeing that one bald guy’s actions and how he reacted to things made me completely turned off of everything pro lifers stand for. He made me feel sorry for the doctor that he was stalking. Even if he doesn’t agree with what the doctor does he has no right to stalk him and or put his life at risk. When he was talking while in the car he said it himself he doesn’t care about the consequences. For so called “pro lifers” you guys obviously seem uncaring to the life of others. He has no idea what goes through the mind of theses doctors or how he acts around his family or even if he has a family. And also the way he reacted to the women that was just going to talk to him and tell him that she doesn’t want her son or daughter seeing those obscene and quite frankly horrific posters was wrong. As a mother myself I would not like my son seeing those posters every day.
To me you pro lifers seem to extreme for me, it seems like its all or nothing and in the real world there is always and there forever will be a gray area. Another things that I didn’t like was the way the last women was convinced into keeping her baby. She was told she will be helped financial, what is your idea of help??? In the US it is estimated that it will cost over $200,000 to raise a child from birth to the age of 18 and that isn’t including college. So I ask again what is your idea of help???
I also don’t know why the so called “counselor” would ever tell a pregnant teen that is being emotionally abuse by the boyfriend that a baby may change him. What kind of stupid counseling is that???? These pregnant women and teens are being persuaded into keeping their unborn child, but what will you tell the kids once they come into this world unwanted and neglected, or emotionally or physically abused??? What do you tell them, at least you weren’t killed when you were a fetus??? Call me crazy, but I don’t think that is going to make them feel any better.
Just wondering..where was the scrap book of all the babies who have been killed? or, for that matter, the women who have died from "safe, legal" abortion...the lady who ran the clinic did not show us those
I was on another site and someone was talking about this site: www.12thanddelaware.org has anyone else visited it and what are your thoughts regarding it