What Are Anti-Abortion Centers?

Anti-abortion centers, or so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” are facilities that present themselves as resources for people facing unplanned pregnancies, but in reality, exist to dissuade people from accessing abortion care.

These centers use deceptive practices to attract patients: they are often deliberately located near reproductive health clinics, they create websites that appear in online searches for legitimate abortion clinics, and they advertise online and in print media in ways that might appeal to those who are considering abortion.

Anti-abortion centers are typically managed and funded by organizations that oppose abortion in any and all circumstances. They often use disinformation as a way to dissuade people from accessing abortion care. As a result, a person with an unintended pregnancy seeking full options counseling or abortion referrals should be aware of the existence of such biased facilities.

More About Anti-Abortion Centers:

While these facilities may offer free pregnancy testing, they are purposefully vague about whether they provide abortion care. Some may be licensed to provide medical care; even so, they exist to dissuade people from receiving abortion care. They may not have any medical professionals available to speak with their clients. They tend to "counsel" a pregnant person by engaging in a lengthy discussion about fetal development, providing disinformation about the alleged "dangers" of abortion (see "Busting the Myths" here), and pressuring the individual to choose parenthood or adoption.

In New England, anti-abortion centers outnumber legitimate abortion providers more than 2:1. It is important to ensure that when you pursue abortion care, you double check that you are being treated by a legitimate provider, as anti-abortion centers can delay care.

List of Anti-Abortion Centers in New England:

  • Attleboro Women's Health Center/Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center, Attleboro

    Daybreak Pregnancy Resource Center, Beverly

    Boston Center for Pregnancy Choices, Boston

    Pregnancy Help, Brighton

    Your Options Medical, Brookline

    Heartbeat Pregnancy Help Center, Burlington

    Pregnancy Help of Brockton, Brockton

    First Concern Pregnancy Resource Center, Clinton

    Bethlehem House of Western Mass, Easthampton

    Your Options Medical Center, Fall River

    Birthright of Falmouth, Falmouth

    Care Net Pregnancy Resources Center, Fitchburg

    Birthright of Framingham, Framingham

    Alternatives Pregnancy Center, Greenfield

    Merrimack Valley Pregnancy Services, Inc., Haverhill

    Pregnancy Center of Haverhill, Haverhill

    Your Options Medical Mobile Van, Hyannis

    Pregnancy Center of Lawrence, Lawrence

    Pregnancy Care Center/Standing With You/Options for Pregnancy, Lowell

    Birth Right, Marlborough

    Bethany Christian Services, Marlborough

    First Concern, Marlborough

    Pregnancy Help, Natick

    Birthright of New Bedford Inc., New Bedford

    New Direction Pregnancy & Sexual Health Resources, Pittsfield

    Life Saver Ministries, North Chelmsford

    Pregnancy Support Services of Berkshire, Pittsfield

    Friends of the Unborn, Quincy

    Your Options Medical Center, Revere

    Clearway Clinic, Springfield

    Springfield Pregnancy Care Center, Springfield

    Birthright, Taunton

    Clearway Clinic, Worcester

    Problem Pregnancy, Worcester

  • Birthright of Manchester, Bedford

    Pathways Pregnancy Care Center, Berlin

    Bethany Christian Services, Candia

    Lighthouse Pregnancy Crisis Center, Center Ossipee

    Pregnancy Center of the Upper Valley, Claremont

    Care Women’s Center of Concord, Concord

    Care Net Pregnancy Center of the Mt Washington Valley, Conway

    Birthright, Derry

    Seacoast Birthright, Dover

    New Generation Inc., Greenland

    Pregnancy Resource Center of the Monadnock Region, Keene

    Aspire Pregnancy Center, Laconia

    Pathways Pregnancy Care Center, Littleton

    PennaCook Pregnancy Center, Manchester

    OUR PLACE/ Trudy’s Center for Family Support, Manchester

    Real Options, Manchester

    OUR PLACE/ St. Joseph Hospital Parish Nurse Center, Nashua

    Real Options, Nashua

    Haven Pregnancy Services, Plymouth

    Options Pregnancy Resource Center, Rochester

    OUR PLACE, Rochester

    Pregnancy Center of the Upper Valley, West Lebanon

  • Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center, Bridgeport

    Hope Pregnancy Center, Cheshire

    Birthright of Westbrook, Clinton

    Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center, Danbury

    Birthright of Danbury, Danbury

    Birthright of Greater Hartford, East Hartford

    St. Gerard's Center for Life/Hartford Women's Center, Hartford

    Birthright of Greater Meriden, Meriden

    ABC Women's Center, Middletown

    ABC Women’s Center, New Britain

    St. Gianna Pregnancy Resource Center, New Haven

    Anchor of Hope, New London

    Mary and Joseph's Place, North Haven

    Birthright of Greater Norwalk, Norwalk

    Pathways Pregnancy, Norwich

    Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center, Stamford

    Go Mobile CT, UConn Storrs

    Two Hearts Pregnancy Care Center, Torrington

    Hope Pregnancy Center, Unionville

    Carolyn's Place Inc., Waterbury

    Go Mobile CT, Waterbury

    Go Mobile CT, Willimantic

    Caring Families Pregnancy Services, Willimantic

    Women's Center of Eastern Connecticut, Willimantic

  • Harmony Women's Center, Providence

    Mother of Life Center, Providence

    Bethany Christian Services, Warwick

    Pregnancy Center of Westerly, Westerly

    Choices Rhode Island, Westerly

    Anchora Options Mobile, mobile van

  • Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central Vermont, Barre

    True North Pregnancy Resources Center, Bennington

    Branches Pregnancy Resource Center, Brattleboro

    Aspire Together, Burlington

    Birthright, Burlington

    Futures Pregnancy Care, Lydonville

    Addison Pregnancy Resource Center, Middlebury

    First Step Pregnancy Clinic, Rutland

    Aspire Now, Williston

    Aspire Together Mobile Clinic

  • Open Arms Pregnancy Center, Augusta

    First Step Pregnancy Resources Center, Bangor

    Care Net Center of Mid-Coast Maine, Brunswick

    Pregnancy Care Center of Aroostook, Fort Kent

    Pregnancy Care Center of Aroostook, Houlton

    Hope House, Lewiston

    ABBA Women's Resource Center, Portland

    Pregnancy Care Center of Aroostook, Presque Isle, Houlton & Fort Kent

    Zoe, A Women’s Center, Rockport

    Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center, Sanford

    Resolve Life Center, Waterville

Know of an anti-abortion center in your community that is not listed on our website?
Please email us at
info@reproequitynow.org!

How can you tell if a facility offers unbiased counseling and abortion services or referrals?

  • Check its website for statements about whether or not it provides abortion referrals. Often, disclosure that the anti-abortion center does not provide abortion care or referrals is buried deep in its website

  • Ask directly if it offers full options counseling, abortion referrals, or abortion care. Often, anti-abortion centers will ask patients to come into the facility before they disclose whether or not they offer abortion.

  • Determine if the facility is hesitant to give referrals for abortion care either on the phone or in person.

Anti-Abortion Centers Logos & Organizations:

  • Many anti-abortion centers are associated with large, national anti-abortion organizations, like Heartbeat International, Birthright International, Care Net, and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA).

  • If an anti-abortion center webpage includes one of the following logos, it’s a clear sign that the facility does not provide full options counseling:

Common Anti-Abortion Tactics to Recognize:

  • Anti-abortion centers often use fear-based language, such as “Pregnant and need help?” or “Pregnant, scared, and in need of help?” to attract patients who might be dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.

  • These centers often falsely link abortion to infertility, breast cancer, depression, and mental health problems. There is no scientific basis in these anti-abortion claims.

  • Many anti-abortion centers have names with the words “choice,” or “choices,” “hope,” or “options.”

  • These facilities often advertise a fake service called “abortion reversal,” which is not supported by science and poses serious threats to patients’ health.

  • Anti-abortion centers often offer abstinence-only sex education, post-abortion support, spiritual support, or bible study. While some people need and want post-abortion counseling, and may seek it through their faith leaders, there is no scientific evidence that abortion results in adverse mental health outcomes.

How to Recognize an Anti-Abortion Center in Person:

  • Check your clinic’s name carefully. Anti-abortion centers sometimes set up next to real health care clinics and medical providers in order to confuse and deceive patients. Make sure you’re headed to the correct facility!

  • Make sure you sign a HIPAA form. Legitimate health care clinics will have you fill out a HIPAA form, which is a medical form that protects your private patient information. Anti-abortion centers do not require this form and, as such, have no legal obligation to protect your personal, private medical information.

  • Look at the posters on the wall. Anti-abortion centers often make abortion seem scary or unsafe or have a message of “choose life” instead of offering unbiased all-options counseling.

  • Get your questions answered. A real reproductive health care clinic will answer your questions before you make an appointment. Anti-abortion centers often insist you make an appointment before confirming whether they offer abortion, STD testing, or contraceptives.

  • Trust your gut. Anti-abortion centers may lie to you about how far along you are in your pregnancy to make you think you have more time than you do to make a decision or to make you think that the time to make a decision has already passed. Get a second opinion if what they say doesn’t sound right or make sense to you.

  • Get a physical copy of your results. If the “clinic” refuses to give you a physical copy of your pregnancy test results or appears to unreasonably delay giving you the results (i.e. they say they will call you or mail them to you), you may be at an anti-abortion center. Testing for pregnancy can be done in a clinic, and you should get results within minutes.

  • Listen for language. If the attendant only uses terms like “baby” and “child” and doesn’t respect the language you are using, including talking about the gestational age of the fetus or embryo, you may be in an anti-abortion center.

  • Make sure you have a choice. If a pregnancy test comes back positive and the attendant speaks to you as if you have already made up your mind to carry the pregnancy to term, you may be in an anti-abortion center.

  • Watch out for offers. Anti-abortion centers may offer you baby clothes, food, accessories, or financial support if you don’t have an abortion. Providing people with postnatal support for wanted pregnancies is important but such support should not be used to coerce you into a reproductive health care choice you are not comfortable with.

If you have been harmed by deceptive practices, harassment, or medical malpractice at an anti-abortion center:

These resources are available to you and we encourage you to use them.

  • People who have had a negative experience with anti-abortion centers can call Reproductive Equity Now’s free and confidential Abortion Legal Hotline at 833-309-6301 to report their case and be referred to pro bono attorneys.

  • Patients in Massachusetts can also file a report with the Attorney General Office’s Civil Rights Division online or at  617-963-2917.

  • If you have concerns about the qualifications or safety of care delivered by a nurse or physician in Massachusetts, you can file a formal complaint with the Commonwealth to initiate an investigation.