A debate is raging as to whether there is sinister intent in proposed Baltimore City legislation requiring crisis pregnancy centers to be clear on the services they provide prospective clients. As physicians and public health professionals who live and work in Baltimore, we are surprised by the debate and troubled that there are those who would advocate for less than full transparency.
In 1979, the United Nations adopted a resolution that recognizes the right of all women to "specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning," as well as "access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling and services on family planning."
The evidence is crystal clear that family planning is one of the best - and perhaps the very best - strategy for women in the United States and across the world to improve their health and well-being, as well as that of their offspring.
With the ability to plan for childbirth, women's health improves and their newborn children get the love and attention essential for healthy development. Women who can plan the number and timing of their births experience fewer unwanted pregnancies and births and have lower rates of abortion. In addition, women who control their fertility are more likely to stay in school and get jobs after childbirth, enhancing the opportunities for their children and themselves.
The evidence strongly indicates that crisis pregnancy centers do not ascribe to anything that remotely resembles a full range of service options for women, nor do they believe in the right of women to control their own fertility. That is a problem, and that is why City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake's bill asks for signage only in crisis pregnancy centers. Sadly, these centers withhold information women have the legal right to access. And by discouraging the use of contraception, they espouse beliefs that are not supported by science or public health practice.
Surely providing misinformation is not the "common ground" that Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien said in a recent Sun op-ed that he seeks. True common ground would be working together to prevent unintended pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. A good first step is to make sure that women have scientifically accurate information upon which to base their family planning decisions.
