AG Ellison issues consumer alert over crisis pregnancy centers
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday issued a consumer alert warning Minnesotans seeking reproductive health care about so-called "crisis pregnancy centers."
Ellison says these crisis pregnancy centers have limited services and potentially deceptive nature of certain claims, adding in wake of the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision, it's important that Minnesotans seeking reproductive health care receive complete, accurate information.
As a result, Ellison is encouraging people to do their research before making an appointment to access abortion care or reproductive health care services. This is because many crisis pregnancy centers, which outnumber abortion clinics in Minnesota by an 11:1 ratio, don't provide comprehensive reproductive health care.
"The Minnesota constitution guarantees the right to safe and legal abortion. Many crisis pregnancy centers claim to offer comprehensive healthcare, but their purpose is to prevent pregnant people from accessing that right — which sometimes they accomplish by misleading, misinforming, or deceiving people," said Attorney General Ellison. "All Minnesotans — including pregnant people — deserve to get accurate, medically sound information about their options from providers they can trust."
He added, "I encourage anyone who may be pregnant to do their homework and to seek out medically accurate and sound information about their health and their options from licensed healthcare professionals."
A recent study from The Alliance, a reproductive rights' organization, found the majority of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) do not have licensed physicians or registered nurses on staff, including in Minnesota. In Minnesota, 20% of crisis pregnancy centers claim to have a registered nurse on staff, 9% claim to have a physician on staff, and 29% promote "abortion pill reversal." Meanwhile, 95% of Minnesota's CPCs don't provide prenatal or wellness care to pregnant consumers, and the majority don't provide prenatal referrals, a news release said.
In addition, the study said nearly two-thirds of Minnesota CPCs make false or biased medical claims about abortions.
CPCs are not regulated under Minnesota law. They're private organizations that seek to prevent people from accessing abortion care, Ellison's news release said.
Attorney General Ellison urges anyone with any concerns or information about potentially misleading claims made by any crisis pregnancy center to contact his office by calling 651-296-3353 (Metro area), 800-657-3787 (Greater Minnesota), or 800-627-3529 (Minnesota Relay), or by filing a complaint online.
Attorneys general in California and Massachusetts have issued similar consumer warnings about crisis pregnancy centers.