Massachusetts launches $1 million taxpayer-funded campaign warning of 'dangers' of pro-life pregnancy centers

Massachusetts' Democratic leadership announced a first-in-the-nation public education campaign warning about pro-life pregnancy clinics' "dangers and potential harm."

Ads on social media, radio, billboards and transit that began rolling out on June 10 warn women to "avoid anti-abortion centers," the Executive Office of Health and Human Services announced. The ads direct viewers to a Mass.gov webpage advertising how to "search for a trusted abortion provider." 

"The troubling practices of anti-abortion centers serve to undermine the trust that people should have in our health care system," Lieutenant Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a June 10 statement. "Education and accurate information can help counter the misinformation and unethical tactics these centers use to prey on people at a particularly vulnerable time."  

The pro-abortion campaign was a joint effort between the Department of Public Health and the pro-choice advocacy group Reproductive Equity Now Foundation. It was funded through a "$1 million investment that the Massachusetts legislature passed as part of its FY2023 supplemental budget," the announcement states.

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In Massachusetts, pregnancy resource centers, or PRCs, reportedly outnumber abortion clinics by more than 2-to-1, according to the announcement.

These clinics typically provide free testing, baby items, counseling and other forms of support for women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies. Supporters say they provide education and resources for women to explore alternatives to abortion to make an informed decision about their pregnancy.

Massachusetts Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein, Massachusetts commissioner of public health, slammed these clinics as "masquerading" as legitimate health providers.

"Every day, individuals in the Commonwealth walk into anti-abortion centers unaware that these facilities are masquerading as comprehensive medical providers and pose a significant risk to the health and well-being of those seeking help, support, and options," Massachusetts Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein said in a statement. "As a physician, I find this kind of deception and misrepresentation unconscionable, and as Commissioner, I feel compelled to push back as hard as possible against these shameful practices and blatant misinformation."  

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The Pregnancy Care Alliance of Massachusetts defended the pro-life clinics in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Massachusetts’ network of pregnancy care centers provides millions of dollars in no-cost support and care for thousands of women annually who face planned and unplanned pregnancies, with services ranging from pregnancy confirmation services, parenting education, and community referrals to material goods like diapers and formula," the network of PRCs in the state said.

"The women served by pregnancy resource centers overwhelmingly report a positive experience, yet the Healey Administration and other politicians in the state are furthering their extreme abortion agenda by using a taxpayer-funded campaign to discredit our centers.  This politically motivated campaign will negatively impact women the most, specifically the many women who want to parent and rely on the free assistance we provide," the statement continued.

Pro-life clinics have accused the blue state of waging a political effort to silence them because they do not provide abortions or referrals for them.

A bill before the Massachusetts legislature aims to regulate pro-life pregnancy centers' advertising. Under the measure, clinics that's found to have misled women with "deceptive" statements about pregnancy-related services will be fined up to $1,000 at the discretion of the attorney general, who is tasked with judging whether a deceptive statement has been made.

"This bill engages in blatant viewpoint discrimination. It targets the speech of pro-life PRCs while allowing free rein to abortion clinics," a memo from the conservative nonprofit Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) reads.

In 2022, then-Attorney General Maura Healey — who has since become governor — issued a "consumer warning" against pregnancy resource centers after receiving just three consumer complaints, according to a pro-life group that obtained the information through a public records request.

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Fox News' Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.