The elephant in the room…crisis pregnancy centers. This is a really difficult topic for me to write about. We have shared a ton of information regarding them post Dobbs on social media. And they continue to pop up all over. Here to “save the world” and “help women facing unintended pregnancies.” They infuriate me, they frustrate me, and most of all they are harming people in our communities.

Recently I sent a letter to the Marathon County Board in support of a long-term partner of ours, the Marathon County Health Department. The local crisis pregnancy center was trying to convince the county board to redirect the nurse home visiting program for moms from the health department to them. I went into great detail why this was a bad idea.

The crisis pregnancy center disclosed in their communication that they offer sexually transmitted infection testing and early treatment. However, they failed to disclose that they do not provide prevention through access to condoms, one of the most recommended prevention and reinfection prevention techniques by the CDC. That would be similar to giving an individual an antibiotic, but not cleaning and dressing the wound that caused the infection. They also failed to mention education on interpregnancy care and pregnancy spacing as recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. That, however, does not come as a surprise as they do not educate on or promote contraception as safe and reliable pregnancy prevention.

One of the things that ruffled my feathers the most was when the crisis pregnancy center indicated that they would be a good option as they provide referrals to WIC. Funny thing is-I have overseen the local WIC program for 7 years, no such referrals have occurred. One of my staff has been here for over 20 and has never seen a referral from them. However, the health department makes referrals almost daily.

The Health Department is transitioning to Nurse Family Partnership, an evidence-based program with more than four decades of research that has consistently proven that Nurse-Family Partnership succeeds at its most important goals: keeping children healthy and safe and improving the lives of moms and babies. It is ranked as a Gold Standard home visiting program with data and science to support it. This is an excellent investment for the county, with proven results versus a crisis pregnancy center flagged by most search engines with a consumer notice and a mission from their 2018-990 that states, “our mission at Hope Life Center is to reach the community with the gospel of Jesus Christ…” Now more than ever our community needs evidence-based healthcare and interventions driven by science.

Flat out-crisis pregnancy centers are not regulated. Repeat they are not regulated, they are not licensed, and they are not health care centers. Healthcare entities practice evidenced based medicine, they are inclusive, and bound to statutes and regulations.

Unlike crisis pregnancy centers, Healthfirst and our provider staff are licensed in WI and credentialed with WI Medicaid and most commercial insurances. Program oversight for our entity is provided by both the state and federal government. We practice evidence-based medicine at Healthfirst based on the recommendations of ACOG, CDC, WI DPH, HHS, OPA, and several other oversight agencies. We are bound to DHS 105.36, 107.21, and DPH family planning standards. We are also bound to 42CFR59 Subpart A and the CDC QFP standards https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/qfp.htm.

Furthermore, we are a covered entity-which means we are regulated and mandated to follow HIPAA. Crisis pregnancy centers are not covered entities-which means they do not need to follow HIPAA and even if they say they do-no one regulates and assures that it actually happens. This is in align with the local crisis pregnancy centers special authorization statement in which they “ordinarily seek to obtain the client’s authorization for disclosure of protected health information.” I am beyond curious about what ordinarily means. You either seek disclosure (for Healthfirst with a written and signed release of information) or you do not. Who gets to decide what falls into ordinarily? As well stating that nothing regarding their privacy practices should be construed as legal rights of the client. Really, they are not going to ensure the privacy of their clients?

You should also check out their client’s responsibilities: clients have the responsibility to be honest about their situations, respect the crisis pregnancy center’s policies, keep appointments or cancel at least 24 hours in advance. At Healthfirst we do not assign responsibilities to our clients. They are going through enough. Instead, we give them rights.  The right to voluntarily receive service(s) without regard to age, race, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, sex, gender identity, national origin or sponsor; Be treated with consideration, respect and dignity including privacy in treatment without coercion; Be informed of the services available at Healthfirst without the prerequisite of family planning services; Receive an itemized copy of his/her account statement, upon request; Obtain from his/her health care provider, complete and current information concerning his/her diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in terms the patient can be reasonably expected to understand; Receive from his/her provider information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any services; Refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be fully informed of the medical consequences of his/her action; Privacy and confidentiality of all information and records pertaining to the patient’s treatment; Approve or refuse the release or disclosure of the contents of his/her medical record to any health-care provider; Access to his/her medical record through the Patagonia Patient Portal, or by signing a release of information; Receive an estimate of the amount that you will be billed after services are rendered. I do not expect or assign responsibilities to clients. They are here and we will serve. Can’t make your appointment, no problem. Can’t be honest about your situation, no problem. We will accept you for you.