Full Frontal's Samantha Bee Details How “Crisis Pregnancy Centers Are An Illusion” And “A Complete Hustle”
Samantha Bee: “Crisis Pregnancy Centers May Look Sweet And Helpful, But They're Really Full Of Toxic Bullshit”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the May 9 edition of TBS' Full Frontal with Samantha Bee:
SAMANTHA BEE (HOST): You mean the fake controversy made up by people who have now been indicted? Woman, have you lost your fucking mind? Ok. Much like Renee Unterman, crisis pregnancy centers may look sweet and helpful, but they're really full of toxic bullshit.
[...]
VICKI SAPORTA: A crisis pregnancy center is a fake abortion clinic. They spread these lies, hoping to frighten women and to persuade them not to go ahead with obtaining the abortion that they want. They create the illusion that they're an abortion clinic by adopting names that are similar to abortion clinics. Adopting the same logos and fonts. They try to have women come in to have a free pregnancy test or a free ultrasound, and then their goal is to detain them.
CHERISSE SCOTT: So, I ended up at a crisis pregnancy center after looking in the Yellow Pages. I chose that listing because it was the largest ad.
SAPORTA: They locate next to an abortion clinic, sometimes in the same building. They con women into thinking they provide the full range of reproductive health care services, when they absolutely do not.
SCOTT: I did feel like, when I was in the facility for the ultrasound, that I was talking to a real nurse, giving me real medical information about my body.
SAPORTA: Most of these fake clinics do not have licensed medical staff. Women are often given false ultrasound results to make it seem like they're much further on in their pregnancies than they really are.
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SCOTT: They gained my trust. I thought I was somewhere to have a procedure done.
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SAPORTA: They want women to believe that there are long-term negative consequences, like they won't be able to have children, like they will suffer from post-abortion stress syndrome, or that they would have an increased risk of breast cancer. They make them wait hours for the results of a pregnancy test, which are pretty instantaneous in order to make them listen to sermons and hear their propaganda and false medical information.
SCOTT: They got me to watch the video by telling me, we want to inform you about what an abortion is. It was a mixture of real women and animation. With the animation, they show the doctor going in with clamps to latch onto the baby's head and pull the baby out. It was the scariest Loony Toon cartoon I've ever seen in my life.
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SCOTT: I ultimately decided to go ahead and have the baby because I didn't want to chance not ever being able to have a baby.
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SCOTT: When it was difficult to get food stamps or when it was difficult to get his father on child support, they weren't there. My son deserved to have a situation where he didn't have to worry about his mother struggling to make the ends meet until I was able to figure it out. He deserved to be able to come into a loving situation. Not in a situation where I was confused because of a lie. I love my son, absolutely, but I'll be very honest with you. If I could do this all over again, I would have an abortion.
SAPORTA: There are more than twice as many fake clinics as there are legitimate abortion providers in the United States.
[...]
SAPORTA: Crisis pregnancy centers are an illusion.
SCOTT: Crisis pregnancy centers are a complete hustle.
Previously:
A Comprehensive Guide To The Deceptively-Edited Videos Used Against Planned Parenthood
Fox News Anchor Cites Sonograms To Justify Defunding Planned Parenthood