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Letter: Crisis pregnancy centers mislead about health care capabilities

I take issue with the article in the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle titled,  “Pregnancy care center opens in Flossmoor to provide pro-life options” specifically because AID for Women has a reputation of shaming women and telling them inaccurate information about their care. 

These places, commonly known as “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) are run by anti-abortion activists, and while they purport to be health care facilities, they typically do not adhere to the standards of legitimate health care providers. Trusted medical professionals, including The American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, have determined CPCs are unethical in their practices.

 
Planned Parenthood opened in Flossmoor to help the community by providing affordable reproductive health care like birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and yes – abortion services. 

While everyone in the community may not agree with abortion, it’s important to point out that it’s none of their business why someone is going to Planned Parenthood. 

Planned Parenthood was there for me when I had my first boyfriend in college and needed birth control.  I had my first pap smear at Planned Parenthood and it came back abnormal with precancerous cells. I am thankful for Planned Parenthood and I resent the false perception that this fake clinic provides healthcare. 

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The article quotes the assistant director saying, “We were open in response to Planned Parenthood.”  A more honest response would be we opened because we oppose abortion as a choice for women.  Their mission is not healthcare. It is to prevent abortions.
 
The anti abortion protestors in front of Planned Parenthood next door have been known to divert patients to Aid for Women.  Coercion isn’t how a child should be brought into this world. 

I am pro faith, pro-family, and pro-choice.  I believe Christ calls us to have empathy and not condemn other’s choices.  Even if you cannot imagine terminating a pregnancy that is YOUR experience and Christ calls us to have compassion for the complex choices individuals may confront.  

The decisions to become a parent are deeply personal. These matters are best left to a woman to discern for herself in consultation with her family, her faith, and her doctor.

 
We need to trust women to make the decision to have a child, not have a child, or be a parent.  Abortion is a healthcare service that allows people to live the life they’d like to live. If someone feels like ending their pregnancy is what they need to do, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to, and no reason why God would look down on them for it.
 
Holly Fingerle
Olympia Fields

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