Unexpected pregnancies warrant a lot of decision making within a very small time period. A pregnancy can completely rewrite and interrupt a woman’s plans, causing her to have to put her life on pause to take care of and provide for a child. During these times, women turn to places like Planned Parenthood for help, but with states passing laws causing facilities to close, options are becoming few and far between.

Women should be weary of facilities known as crisis pregnancy centers. These establishments are not medical facilities. They are usually run under a pro-life agenda and their entire purpose is to trick women seeking an abortion into coming into the facility so they can be shamed into not getting an abortion. CPCs are also known to give out inaccurate information about contraceptives like IUDs and condoms.

When a woman goes to a CPC she is given counseling that involves asking very personal (and quite frankly irrelevant) questions that only tangentially pertain to the pregnancy, including questions about the woman’s number of sexual partners, her parents, her religious affiliation and her financial situation. She may also be asked about the individual who impregnated her and whether he has been informed about the potential pregnancy.

By asking these questions, the CPC employees can use a woman’s answer to justify keeping the child. Her parents would love to have grandchildren, she’s financially stable enough, her boyfriend would surely be a supportive and great parent.

A good way to determine whether a place is safe is to visit the establishment’s website to see what services are offered. CPCs are, however, notorious for using false advertising. How this is legal is questionable. CPCs are often affiliated with a religious organization, so any allusion to Christianity on the website or in a slogan is a good indicator of a bad facility.

When seeking help during an unwanted pregnancy, contact a real healthcare provider for a reference to a legitimate women’s clinic that will provide accurate and non-biased information. While West Virginia only has one facility in Vienna, Planned Parenthood is a good resource for women seeking help as they can point in the right direction. The campus Women’s Center also has information for women seeking help and is easily accessible to students.

Women’s health clinics are good, safe facilities whose first priority is to provide information to prevent unwanted pregnancies before an abortion is even necessary. CPCs exist only to shame women out of getting abortions by using emotionally manipulative tactics. By providing funding to CPCs but taking it from legitimate clinics, state governments are creating more problems rather than fixing them.

Pregnancy and motherhood are a choice, and no woman should be shamed into making the decision to have a child.