In seeking advice, on anything from what to order at Buraka
to what kind of health insurance to get, most people will seek out the
expertise of a professional: doctors, lawyers, food connoisseurs, etc. So, I think
it's safe to say that the point of asking for advice is to make a more informed
and educated decision. Right? Following this model, I think it's also safe to
say that a woman enlisting the help of a clinic that advertises itself as
providing counseling and information regarding all options available in case of
an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy probably would like more information on
becoming pregnant before she decides what do about it.

A situation such as the above is especially common among
young, often teenage women, who may be uninformed regarding adoption, abortion,
raising a child, etc., which means it is all the more important for these women
to gain as much information as possible before making a possibly life-altering
decision. Many look to federally funded Pregnancy Resource Centers — also
called Crisis Pregnancy Centers — to make a more knowledgeable assessment
regarding what should be done. These clinics market themselves as providing
pregnancy counseling, and can be found under "abortion services" in a phone
book or through searching "abortion clinics" online. But don't count on these
organizations to help you find an abortion clinic. According to a report on the
Committee for Government Reform, these PRCs — which practice a curriculum of
abstinence-only education — are not only staffed by volunteers who have no
medical training, but also have been providing false information to those
seeking credible information.

While there are obviously many organizations that promote
this approach, it is one thing to simply be a pro-life organization, and quite
another to deliberately conceal anti-abortion goals and manipulate women who
may be uninformed and vulnerable. Through subversive tactics such as seemingly
pro-choice friendly advertising, "abortion vulnerable clients" are lured into
these clinics, which distribute false information. For example, many PRCs hand
out pamphlets detailing fabricated claims such as the supposed "fact" that
abortion causes breast cancer or infertility and exaggerate the rates of
depression and suicide that may follow an abortion procedure. Never mind the
trauma that can be caused by a parent unwilling or unable to care for a child,
since that's obviously a trivial detail to be overlooked in the larger, nobler
plans of PRCs.

Whatever your ideological standpoint on the issue abortion,
the actions of these PRCs is truly immoral. The main issue here is not about
pro-life or pro-choice, it is that our government is providing millions of
dollars in grants for people to be intentionally lied to.

That our government allows untrained and unknowledgeable
workers to essentially brainwash young women in order to reach the goals of the
Bush administration speaks to the nature of our national identity with chilling
clarity. While obsessing about our supposedly important civil liberties, we
think nothing of trampling all over the basic rights of others, as long as we
can attain our own ends. And while the omnipresent lust for power and control
is obviously at play here, what is scarier is the drive that collective
self-righteousness lends to this quest. Playing God in the lives of others has
become an American value in its own right, whether the control is aimed at
other genders, other countries, other sexual preferences, and so on. We are a
culture that thrives on controlling and imposing to the point of complete
blindness to the needs, rights and desires of others. And as long as these
practices continue, we can never truly stand united.

Hannah Shtein ([email protected])
is a sophomore majoring in religious studies and philosophy.