Anti-abortion centers promote abortion stigma and interrupt access to care by spewing disinformation about how abortion works. These facilities are meant to confuse, deceive, dissuade, and shame patients for making their own informed choices about their reproductive futures. Even in states with legal protections for abortion access, these centers serve as the footsoldiers of the anti-abortion movement, creating barriers to accessing urgent and necessary reproductive health care.
Nationally, there are somewhere between 2,500 and 4,000 anti-abortion centers, around three times the number of abortion clinics. The disparity is worse in abortion-hostile states, and after the Dobbs decision these centers are emboldened and continuing to expand their operations in all 50 states across the country. Before Dobbs the ratio of anti-abortion centers to abortion clinics in Texas was 9 to 1. Now, abortion is banned in the state and very few reproductive health clinics remain to provide critical resources to those who may not otherwise be able to access affordable reproductive care.
Fortunately, we have a powerful tool to fight back. It begins with public education. Public education is key to public health, and protected states can play a critical role to ensure residents have the tools and resources they need to make informed reproductive health care decisions, and avoid dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers.
In Massachusetts, Reproductive Equity Now is working with the Department of Public Health to inoculate our communities against the more than 30 anti-abortion centers in the commonwealth. This past June, Massachusetts launched a first-in-the-nation public education campaign to ensure residents are well-informed about the dangers of these deceptive facilities. We are proud to be the subject-matter experts for the development of this historic campaign.
The campaign ads, which run in English and Spanish throughout the state, amplify how critical it is that patients “avoid anti-abortion centers.” The campaign directs people to a Massachusetts Department of Public Health web page with information on how to recognize and report anti-abortion centers, and where to access unbiased, full-spectrum reproductive health care in Massachusetts.
Even in states where abortion access is protected by law, more work is required to truly empower patients to seek the care that is right for them — and a public education campaign is an effective and impactful place to start.
We recognize that we are privileged to be residents of Massachusetts and enjoy the support of our elected leaders in our efforts to combat the disinformation proliferated by anti-abortion centers. But residents in states without this level of institutional support can still work to protect patients from these centers through grassroots work. We’ve seen informative, creative grassroots education materials produced by movement allies across the country – even in places where these centers receive state funding. Person-to-person conversations with friends, family, and neighbors are an excellent place to start. Make sure your loved ones know what anti-abortion centers are, how to avoid them, and where they can access legitimate reproductive health care in their communities.
Repro Equity Now has created the New England Abortion Care Guide, which has all of the information necessary to see abortion care in all six New England states. We also collaborated with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office to create the Abortion Legal Hotline, a free and confidential legal helpline for patients and providers. Beyond New England, patients seeking legitimate abortion care can find clinics near them using www.ineedana.com and legal advice from If When How at www.reprolegalhelpline.org.
There are a lot of unknowns facing abortion seekers today, and the process of seeking abortion care in this nation continues to be cumbersome for many patients, even in protected states. However, information is power, and we are putting power in the hands of our communities by raising awareness about anti-abortion centers in Massachusetts and across the country.