Well, not exactly. Here is the text of that article:
If you've ever faced the uncertainty and fear of an unplanned pregnancy, there's a chance you may have encountered one of these questionable clinics.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC) are popping up all over the country. These centers are notorious for providing women with inaccurate information on topics such as a supposed link between abortion and breast cancer rates and false facts about sexually transmitted diseases and the effectiveness of contraceptives.
Here's how it usually works: A young woman sees an ad for a clinic that offers free pregnancy tests, counseling and other services. The woman calls the center to ask about birth control. A staff member suggests she come in to talk about it. Upon arriving at the center, the woman is advised against birth control and is encouraged to practice abstinence.
Or perhaps the woman is already pregnant and considering abortion. She decides to see a counselor at the center to discuss her options. The counselor then gives her scary "facts" about abortion. According to a 2006 congressional study, one CPC staffer advised a caller that infertility was common following a first trimester abortion.
Yikes.
According to Allie McDonald, a national campus organizer for the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA), there are about 3,500 CPCs nationwide posing as comprehensive women's health clinics.
CPCs rarely have medical professionals on staff, and McDonald said they sometimes use astonishing tactics to mislead women, such as having staff members don white lab coats to give the appearance that they are medically certified.
Even worse, CPCs seem to target college campuses and low-income areas, where abortions are more prominent. According to a press release issued by FMLA, A Woman's Concern in State College meets the criteria of CPCs.
I visited the clinic's Web site and, sure enough, A Woman's Concern pushed the claim that women who have an abortion "face an alarming 50 percent increase in breast cancer," a "fact" that the congressional study refutes.
The site provides even more misleading information under its "Relationships & Sexual Health" section.
According to the site, "75 percent (more than half) of the reproductive population is infected with HPV (genital warts)." The Web site cites a study from www.worththewait.info/STD.htm. Talk about a red flag.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that only 1 percent of sexually active adults in the U.S. have genital warts at any given time.
"I can't believe this CPC is claiming that 75 percent of the sexually active population has genital warts," McDonald said when I shared this with her. "Talk about trying to scare people out of having sex."
The site goes on to compare sex to a plane crash, claiming that condoms only protect you from HIV 85 percent of the time. I pulled this analogy directly from the site: "If you were on a plane and the pilot ... told you that there was a 15 percent chance the plane would ... have a fatal crash, would you get off that plane? What if the pilot said there was a 50 percent chance that the plane might crash, but you would live, you may just have some permanent injuries and damage. Would you get off then? Would it be worth the risk?"
What?! The site continues: "By definition of the word safe, using condoms to protect yourself if you're having sex outside of marriage isn't safe."
Note the not-so-subtle inclusion of the term "outside of marriage."
Talk about agenda pushing.
The fact of the matter is, these CPCs aren't going anywhere, regardless of congressional studies and public outrage. But that doesn't mean Penn State women have to fall victim to them. If you're searching for more information on sex and pregnancy, rely on respected organizations such as the CDC and University Health Services.
And if you turn to a smaller, lesser-known organization, make sure you research it first to make sure it lacks an agenda or bias.
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This hits close to home. I have been on the board of directors of A Woman's Concern Pregnancy Resource Clinic in State College for two years. I have been personally confronted on a few occasions by Christians who have misunderstood or just refused to understand something I said, or did, or preached, or believed, or taught. Thankfully, those uneasy confrontations have been fairly rare and never in print for public consumption. But those incidents have been as full of error and, let's be nice, "misinformation" as the above article.
On one occasion, it was stated by a fellow believer who is a personal friend of mine, that I do not believe in evangelism because I am a Calvinist. This was proposed to two church leaders as I was returning from a missions trip to Colombia, South America. I was returning from a missions trip to Colombia. I went door-to-door sharing the gospel. I was evangelizing. And yet, it was stated that I don't believe in evangelism because I'm a Calvinist and I believe in predestination. That argument made almost as much sense as Ms. Cullerott's article does here.
For the sake of time, I'll only address Caitlin's final sentence in her article: "And if you turn to a smaller, lesser-known organization [lesser known than the Center for Disease Control or University Health Services], make sure you research it first to make sure it lacks an agenda or bias."
This sentence alone is sufficient to explain the problem. Name a single organization of any kind, large or small, well-known or lesser-known, anywhere on the planet, at any point in time during the entire history of the world, that has no agenda or bias. Other than The Daily Collegian. That one statement effectively removes any credibility that may have been present when the article began.
I confess, I am biased. Here is my agenda in writing this little blog entry: To illustrate that the author of the Collegian article, reproduced here in its entirety, has no idea what she is talking about. She is, in my biased and totally right-wing opinion, yet another unfortunate victim of the liberal, radical, "progressive", and yet still-stuck-in-the-60s, feminist movement.
The agenda of A Woman's Concern has never been hidden throughout the 25 years of its existence. It is obviously a Christian ministry, operated by Christians, that seeks to help young men and women make informed decisions regarding unwanted and unplanned pregnancies. It seeks to assist women who, after learning the facts, exercise their right to choose life for their unborn child. AWC provides material assistance, counseling, ultrasound testing, and various other services to those half-dozen or so women in the entire world who have reservations about abortion. Heaven forbid that a woman would actually think twice about whether she should give birth to the child she helped create!
In addition to the Collegian debacle this week, hundreds of billions of other feminists all over the universe are shaking their collective fists in the air over the anticipation of a pro-life ad during the Superbowl this weekend. Football star Tim Tebow is supposed to thank his Mom publicly for not flushing his pre-born body down the toilet in an ad sponsored by that evil organization with the anti-woman hidden agenda, Focus on the Family. Women's rights groups are having a collective aneurism. It was stated by one leader in an interview on Fox News that since 40% of the viewers of the Superbowl will be women, THEREFORE an ad such as Tim Tebow's should never be allowed.
Does something about that not make sense to you, or is it just me?
So, what to do? As believers, we keep on doing the same thing we've been doing all along: Telling the truth. Unborn children are human beings, believe it or not. Therefore abortion is murder, with the single exception of taking the child's life in order to save the life of the mother (a VERY rare event, especially in America). Women's rights organizations such as The National Organization for Women, are biased. They have a not-so-hidden agenda. They want all women worldwide to have the right to choose to kill their own children for any reason, or for no reason, safely and affordably. They refer to it as "empowerment". Innumerable so-called helpless and victimized women find themselves inexplicably and inconveniently pregnant. Such women, according to modern, forward-thinking feminists, should be able to have easy access to a simple, affordable, harmless, guilt-free surgical procedure to eliminate the inconvenient blob of "tissue" they are carrying in their wombs. That is the truth of the matter.
CPCs and PRCs exist to give women who find themselves unexpectedly expecting, an opportunity to find out what ALL their choices are. Pre-knowledge of the availability of abortion is a given. But what about an entire system of volunteers that is willing to help you actually carry your baby to term and help you work through all the struggles of an unplanned pregnancy? Those people are out there! They work and volunteer at A Woman's Concern and thousands of other centers and clinics across the country. They exist for the sole purpose of promoting life, both physical and eternal, in a feminist-inspired culture of death.
I am very happy to be part of our clinic, and to play a small role in its operation. I constantly wonder why Christians don't get more involved in this wonderful ministry, whether as a volunteer or as a financial supporter. There are few works done in the name of Christ that are more merciful and do more good. But these centers are constantly villified and attacked.
Get involved. If you happen to live in State College or the surrounding area, call A Woman's Concern at (814) 234-7341. Ask for our Executive Director, Jenny Summers. Ask her how you can be involved in sharing the love of Jesus Christ with the men and women He brings to our door. Or call your local CPC or PRC. Defend the helpless. Help the needy. Show the mercy and compassion of Christ. Do what you can. And be prepared for someone to criticize you for it.
"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before {it hated} you." "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (John 15:8; Matthew 5:16, NASB)
