{"id":295130,"date":"2023-07-24T08:34:57","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T13:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=295130"},"modified":"2023-07-23T09:21:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T14:21:54","slug":"massachusetts-anti-pregnancy-center-ordinance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/massachusetts-anti-pregnancy-center-ordinance\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts city drops anti-pregnancy center ordinance… for now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A municipal ordinance that would compel the two pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) in Worcester, Massachusetts, to discuss abortion options has been dropped after the city solicitor and the city manager agreed the measure would be unenforceable.<\/p>\n

In July 2022, the Worcester City Council voted<\/a> 6-5 to authorize<\/a> the city manager and the city solicitor to draft an ordinance requiring the city’s PRCs to\u00a0“<\/span>directly provide or provide referrals for abortions or emergency contraception.”<\/span><\/p>\n

PRCs are known for giving pregnant women the resources and support they need to give birth to and parent their children, as well as providing pregnancy testing and\/or STD testing along with various other services. Most will not provide abortion referrals. Because of this, they have been the target of abortion supporters, who frequently smear the resource centers as “fake clinics.”<\/p>\n

As the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts noted in a news release<\/a>, the ordinance would effectively force the closure of Clearway Clinic and Problem Pregnancy, the city’s two PRCs. Though the council members had directed that the ordinance be written, text messages disclosed between City Solicitor Michael Traynor and City Manager Eric Batista reveal both expressed “great reservations” about it.<\/p>\n