When I was a young teenager, I had a pregnancy scare. So of course i went to a crisis pregnancy centre to get the test before I wanted to come clean to my mom or my doctor that I was having sex at a pretty young age. I didn’t have a very open and communicative relationship about my sexuality with any adult and I was leaps and bounds ahead of all my friends in terms of sexual experimentation. This all meant I had no one to talk to.
At the crisis pregnancy centre, instead of good advice and support, I was asked to pee in a cup and then I had to sit in a TV room full of toys and baby clothes and watch a 20 minute video about adoption.
I was lucky - my results came back negative and i could go back to my happy-go-lucky life. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, but the centre I went to was not an impartial and supportive centre that discussed all the options. Instead, this so called “crisis pregnancy centre” was a thinly veiled pro-life centre that used manipulative tactics during a time of high emotional stress in my life.
The centre didn’t even discuss birth control options with me. Eventually, I found another centre willing to do STI and pregnancy-prevention counselling and I got myself set up with some real sexual education.
The always amazing Teen Voices Online website has this page with tips on how to find an authentic crisis pregnancy centre with your reproductive health in mind. Pass it on!
Digg
Facebook
del.icio.us
three comments
There was an article in an independent paper here in Edmonton some time back that is a good read, as well. The author pretended to be pregnant and visited various pregnancy crisis centres. I highly recommend giving it a look:
http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?...
Posted by Derek
July 12, 2008, 3:56 PM
I really wish Emma Sasse had gone the extra mile when writing that article and gone to/called all of the clinics and services she listed. I mean, I'm pretty sure Planned Parenthood isn't going to tell me my baby isn't responsible for me being raped (!!!), but I am curious to hear what the experience would be like, if only for the sake of balance.
Posted by Wesley
July 12, 2008, 7:09 PM
Ugh. I don't know how these anti-choice centres can in all conscience tell the wild lies mentioned in that Vue Weekly article.
Posted by C.K.
July 12, 2008, 9:26 PM
Leave a comment
Our comment policy
Shameless prides itself on the diversity of opinions expressed by our writers, and we encourage and appreciate different points of view. Our intention at Shameless is to foster community and to maintain a safe and positive blogging environment; we do not consider it our duty to give a voice to anybody with an opinion.
Discussion on this site is moderated. We will delete comments that:
(We get to decide what's discriminatory, hateful, attacking, or inflammatory).
In some cases, we will cap off comments on a discussion when we feel they are spiralling out of control and fostering an unwelcoming space for bloggers and readers. Comments will be closed by the Web Editor, unless the post is by the Web Editor, in which case the Editor in Chief will close them.
If your comments repeatedly make the same point, they may be deleted. This also applies to comments made by multiple members of the same organization.
Your comments should be about the topic of the post, not its writer—although we certainly encourage praise for our writers, if you want to say something nice.