Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) stood in front of Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, on Oct. 6 and claimed the center is “brainwashing” pregnant women because it provides options other than abortion.
“We need to do everything we can do to shut down these brainwashing, cult clinics,” he told reporters. “We need to stop the fake programming they are pushing.”
But Mr. Gottheimer never contacted Lighthouse to learn about their programs or to let them know he would be holding a press conference about their services, Debbie Provencher, executive director of Lighthouse, told The Epoch Times.
People inside the nonprofit, which provides life-affirming alternatives to abortion, learned of the press conference when members of the media went to their door to get comments from them.
“We’re a neighbor in his district,” Ms. Provencher said. “To not be extended the common courtesy, and to blatantly spread lies about us—it’s just hurtful. I’m sad that he’s missing out on all the good that his neighbors are doing, and all the good that his neighbors are receiving inside Lighthouse, and that he would mischaracterize us so grossly.”
Deceptive Language
Mr. Gottheimer also issued a press release about the event.
“Today, I stood in front of an anti-choice clinic posing as a legitimate healthcare provider and announced new action to prevent these brainwashing cult clinics—known as crisis pregnancy centers—from providing false or misleading information that puts women’s health at risk,” Mr. Gottheimer’s release said. “Today marks my first stop at one of the many healthcare hoax centers around the state because women need to know they exist, and we must shut them down. … I’m helping lead the Stop Anti-abortion Disinformation (SAD) Act to prevent this type of deceptive advertising about health care.”
The SAD Act would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to issue rules that prohibit “deceptive or misleading advertising” related to the provision of abortion services; provide the FTC the authority to enforce these rules and collect penalties from organizations in violation; and require a report to Congress on enforcement under the Act.
It does not go as far as calling for the closure of pregnancy resource centers, but the language spoken and written about the measure specifically calls for closures. The Epoch Times asked Mr. Gottheimer’s office for clarification on the distinction between his calls to shutter these facilities, and the SAD Act legislation he is promoting, which addresses deceptive language but not closures. The office did not respond.
The SAD Act had support in the last session of Congress from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.).
The concern is that pregnant women can’t tell the difference between walking into a facility to get an abortion or to explore other options such as adoption or learning what it would take for them to transition into parenting.
“There are more than 50 crisis pregnancy centers in New Jersey which are not staffed by licensed medical health professionals,” Mr. Gottheimer said in a statement. “Women often go to these healthcare hoax clinics thinking they will receive real medical help, but instead they are greeted by people with no medical background whose goal is to brainwash women with their own ideological agenda.”
- Pose as health care clinics with doctors and nurses but are not staffed by licensed medical professionals.
- Ignore medical ethics and are staffed by people with no medical background whose goal is to brainwash women with their own ideological agenda.
- Lie about the risks associated with abortion, use aggressive tactics to manipulate women into changing their minds, and deceive women into thinking they’re too far along to legally get “the care they need.”
- Neither provide legitimate prenatal care nor refer women to health clinics that would offer a full range of services.
- Locate their facilities near “real health care clinics” so their employees can physically divert women away from them.
- Promote abortion pill reversal—“an unproven and unethical treatment.”
Pregnancy Center Responds
Ms. Provencher said these points are wrong.She said Lighthouse does have nurses. The nonprofit can confirm a pregnancy and when it does, they advise pregnant women to see a doctor. They also offer emotional support for those newly learning they are pregnant, for new parents, and for those who had an abortion, plus parenting classes and baby supplies for the first year.
“Since 2011, when we opened our doors, we have served over 5,300 people at that location,” Ms. Provencher said. “I avoid politics in order to serve the widest number of people possible. Politics came to us. I still want to focus on the good we do.”
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin issued a consumer alert in December 2022, warning people that pregnancy resource centers do not provide abortions. The consumer alert reads, “A Crisis Pregnancy Center may: Offer free services, including pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and adoption information, or supplies including diapers and baby clothes to individuals seeking abortion.”
The alert includes a consumer hotline for anyone who believes they are a victim of fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, or unlawful conduct at a pregnancy center.
Members of the New Jersey Consortium of Pregnancy Centers discussed the alert, and none had any complaints made against them, so attorney Eileen S. Den Bleyker made a records request to the state, asking for information about complaints that would have prompted the alert. The records request became a legal battle and, even after a judge ordered the state to provide records by July 31, the state has not complied.
The case is still pending, Ms. Den Bleyker told The Epoch Times. The state has asked for more time and it has produced some records, she said, but nothing of substance.
Against Religion
Ms. Den Bleyker said the characterizing of centers as “extremist cults” was a swipe at religion, and Christianity in particular, because many centers are supported by Christians.Ms. Amoroso spoke at the same press conference and mentioned her views on the churches that often support pregnancy centers.
“These centers are largely run by evangelical groups who operate on the principle that women are just baby-making machines who fall for deceptive advertising, and that fetal rights trump women’s rights every time,” Ms. Amoroso said in her speech. She called for stopping “the manipulation and evangelical scamming.”
Mr. Gottheimer targeted his own constituents, because he represents that district, Ms. Den Bleyker said.
“He showed up unannounced, without the courtesy of even speaking to the executive director. He’s never been inside the clinic. He relied on totally false information, and made outrageous untrue statements,” she said.
