{"id":297303,"date":"2023-08-29T12:43:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=297303"},"modified":"2023-08-27T23:22:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T04:22:14","slug":"california-pregnancy-help-advocates-apology-lawmaker-fake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/california-pregnancy-help-advocates-apology-lawmaker-fake\/","title":{"rendered":"California pregnancy help advocates call for apology after lawmaker calls them \u2018fake\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>) California pregnancy help leaders called on a Democrat state lawmaker to apologize for calling them \u201cfake health care centers\u201d earlier this past spring.<\/p>\n

In her presentation before the California Assembly Health Committee on Assembly Bill 710, NTD.com reports, Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo claimed of pregnancy help centers, \u201cThese clinics use deceptive practices targeted at vulnerable populations to draw them in by claiming they provide abortion services when they have no equipment or capacity to provide abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, they\u2019re not licensed medical clinics,\u201d Schiavo stated.<\/p>\n

According<\/a>\u00a0to the California Alliance of Pregnancy Care there are 162 pregnancy help centers in the state, 87 of which are state-licensed medical clinics and 11 are AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Accredited) clinics.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Santa Clarita Valley Pregnancy Center<\/a>\u00a0in Santa Clarita, Calif., is one of the 87 pregnancy help medical clinics, and held a press conference in response to Schiavo\u2019s remarks, the NTD report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAssemblymember Schiavo was wrong,\u201d said Angela Bennett, president and CEO of the Santa Clarita pregnancy medical clinic. \u201cWe are not a fake clinic. Our medical professionals are not fakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to serve our community,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be a licensed medical clinic within our community and to meet the pregnancy diagnostic needs of women in our community who are either uninsured, have no place to go, or they just need an answer.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Schiavo made her comments while presenting on Assembly Bill 710, which she sponsored, and which would generate a public information campaign\u00a0on pregnancy care and abortion services via the California Department of Public Health.<\/p>\n

She told the Assembly Health Committee that pregnancy centers deliberately misinform women and lie to them to \u201cblock them from accessing abortion care.\u201d A video of the hearing is available\u00a0<\/strong>HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation was one among a number of proposed bills in abortion states that seek to restrict or impugn pregnancy help centers.<\/p>\n

While the bill eventually\u00a0stalled<\/a>\u00a0in committee, Bennett and others had called for an apology.<\/p>\n

The California Family Council said in a statement that Schiavo authored the bill to create a public awareness campaign that \u201cseeks to expose fake crisis pregnancy centers.\u201d<\/p>\n