Key Takeaways

• Learn about what “crisis pregnancy centers” really are: fake clinics run by a national network of anti-abortion extremists, far-right conservatives, and religious organizations
• Nine facts that expose how fake clinics differ from real reproductive health care clinics—including how they’re used for political mobilization
• Learn how to identify fake clinics, access real reproductive health care, and take action against these deceptive practices

⚡️ TL; DR (too long, didn’t read)

Anti-abortion centers (AACs)—also called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs)—are actually anti-abortion extremist organizations that lie, shame, and mislead patients.

Their goal: to stop people from accessing abortion and other forms of reproductive health care including birth control.

Anti-abortion lawmakers use anti-abortion centers to claim their “support” for pregnant people while also supporting abortion bans that cause irrevocable harm.

In reality, these “clinics” do not replace abortion care, or any type of comprehensive reproductive health care.

They are misinformation propaganda centers, funded by dark-money networks (as well as our tax dollars)—and they’re even used to mobilize for anti-abortion political campaigns.

Want to take action? Explore ways to get involved and fight anti-abortion extremism with us:

9 Facts About Anti-Abortion Centers (so-called “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”)

Here’s what anti-abortion extremists don’t tell you about these dangerous anti-abortion centers.

1. So-called “crisis pregnancy centers” do not provide abortion care

These fake clinics do not provide abortion care and typically refuse to refer people to providers that do.

These centers disproportionately target young people, immigrants, uninsured patients, and communities of color—people who already face the greatest barriers to reproductive health care.

Unfortunately, these fake clinics are on the rise. Even in New York where abortion is legal and protected, anti-abortion centers outnumber abortion clinics, as reported by The New York Times in 2022.

Researchers identified more than 2,600 anti-abortion centers nationwide, compared with about 765 clinics that actually provide abortions—meaning fake clinics outnumber real providers more than three to one.

2. Anti-abortion centers do not offer comprehensive reproductive health care

Most of these fake clinics do not provide:

• Birth control (pills, IUDs, implants, and condoms)
• Prenatal care
• Miscarriage management
• STI treatment

3. Anti-abortion centers are not bound by HIPAA privacy protections

Many anti-abortion centers collect personal health information even though they are not medical providers and may not be bound by the same HIPAA/privacy laws that protect patients at legitimate clinics.

This is a terrifying risk in our post-Dobbs world of surveillance and criminalization. In at least one documented case, an anti-abortion center shared client information with law enforcement in a pregnancy-related prosecution.

Those risks may only grow. President Trump told Time that he’d “let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans“—a proposal aligned with Project 2025’s vision for expanding federal oversight of reproductive health in order to criminalize abortion.

4. Anti-abortion centers spread medical misinformation and rely on deception

These fake clinics are part of a well-funded national network of extremist groups including anti-abortion extremists such as Charlotte Lozier Institute, Heartbeat International, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

These centers do not follow national medical or ethical standards.

Many operate under looser rules that allow them to:

• Promote “abortion pill reversal” myths
• Exaggerate abortion risks based on junk science and straight-up lies
• Delay care with false timelines

One well-known tactic used by anti-abortion centers is exaggerating how far along someone is in their pregnancy. By intentionally misleading pregnant people to believe they are beyond the gestational limits of their local or neighboring states’ abortion bans, they cause delays in accessing legitimate, legal abortion care.

5. AACs are funded by a network of conservative policy, religious organizations, and anti-abortion extremist groups

Fake clinics routinely blur the line between medical care and religious/ideological counseling. They might bring up prayer, scripture, or moral lectures that have no place in medical care unless you ask for them.

Calling these centers “health clinics” is a naming convention created by a national anti-abortion political network of conservative policy, religious organizations, and anti-abortion extremist groups.

These fake clinics are supported by legal organizations such as anti-abortion extremist organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented AACs in lawsuits opposing state oversight and disclosure requirements.

6. Anti-abortion centers intentionally delay care until abortion is no longer a legal option

By confusing, shaming, or misinforming people, AACs can run out the clock on abortion access.

This is especially harmful in today’s abortion access landscape. For example, if a fake clinic exaggerates how far along someone is in their pregnancy in South Carolina, a person may believe they are no longer eligible for telehealth medication abortion—or that they no longer qualify for care in neighboring North Carolina—even though care may still have been available with accurate information.

AAC misinformation compounds existing barriers to abortion access. As a result, people may give up on care that was still legally available to them.

7. Anti-abortion centers offer so-called “free supplies” instead of real support

Diapers and baby clothes are often cited as proof of “support,” but they are not a substitute for reproductive health care or real economic support for families.

Many CPCs also advertise “free ultrasounds” to appear like legitimate medical clinics. A 2024 study published in JAMA found that 77% of anti-abortion centers advertise ultrasound services, even though many operate without licensed medical oversight.

In reality, these services are often used to delay care or persuade people not to seek abortion.

8. Lawmakers fund AACs with taxpayer dollars to avoid accountability for abortion bans

Abortion bans cause devastating harm, and fake clinics do nothing to mitigate it—they just add fuel to the fire.

Abortion bans lead to:

• Preventable deaths
• Trauma, pain, and suffering
• Criminalization for health care
• Maternal health care deserts

Yet instead of addressing these harms, anti-abortion lawmakers increasingly point to AACs as proof that pregnant people still have “support” and allocate our taxpayer dollars to fund them.

Most of the states that fund AACs have abortion bans, and higher-than-average maternal and infant mortality rates.

A recent report found that nearly $430 million in federal funding went to more than 650 anti-abortion centers between 2017 and 2023—often with little transparency or accountability, and despite mounting evidence of financial waste by AACs.

9. Fake clinics are the political backbone of the anti-abortion movement

In 2024, anti-abortion extremists used AACs for political mobilization against abortion access ballot initiatives, leveraging a nationwide network of 100,000 staff and volunteers and to funnel taxpayer dollars into their anti-abortion efforts.

Radical groups see these fake clinics as a cornerstone of their goal to “replace” Planned Parenthood and Title X programs and secure federal taxpayer funds to advance an agenda that “promotes childbirth and undermines evidence-based health care” as described in Project 2025.

The Bottom Line for Policymakers

The only solution to the public health crisis caused by abortion bans is repealing abortion bans.

Lawmakers cannot use AACs to claim their “support” for pregnant people while also supporting abortion bans that cause suffering and preventable deaths.

As abortion bans gut our reproductive health care, anti-abortion extremist lawmakers are increasingly promoting anti-abortion centers as the answer—even though these centers operate without the standards, accountability, or evidence-based care required of legitimate health clinics.

Anti-abortion centers are not a solution to abortion bans—if anything they cause more harm to pregnant people.

What Real Accountability Looks Like

Everybody deserves timely, dignified medical care that is scientifically accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased. We need this in order to make personal decisions about our lives, our bodies, and our futures.