Crisis Pregnancy Centers in New Mexico: Designed to Deceive
Designed to Deceive
The SWLC collects and maintains data on CPCs in New Mexico, and with our coalition partners we verify this information and make it publicly accessible. We also work to educate women+ around the state, so they don’t unknowingly end up at a crisis pregnancy center instead of a legitimate reproductive health provider.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) are nonprofit organizations that present themselves as healthcare clinics while providing counseling and “free” goods explicitly intended to discourage and limit access to abortion. These facilities engage in purposefully manipulative and deceptive practices that spread misinformation on sexual health and abortion.
TOPICS:
Anti-Abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centers:
False and Biased Medical Claims:
Mental Health Consequences (“Post-Abortion Syndrome”)
Inaccurate Information on the Safety of Abortion
Anti-Abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs)
- Use deceptive and coercive tactics, medical disinformation, and they misleadingly present themselves as comprehensive reproductive healthcare providers.
- They are a well-resourced arm of the global anti-abortion movement, and are rapidly expanding while evading public accountability, despite increasing reliance on public funds.
- The services offered are overstated, deceptive, and dangerous.
- Most offer pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, “options” counseling, and information about pregnancy and abortion.
- Often lack qualified medical professionals, such as licensed doctors or nurses, who can provide accurate medical advice. But most volunteers and staff wear scrubs.
- Those without actual providers are not bound by federal privacy laws, such as HIPAA, and therefore are not legally bound to protect their patients’ information or confidentiality.
- They do not provide comprehensive reproductive health care, abortions or referrals for abortions, and most don’t provide any medical care at all.
- Some offer diapers and other items and while this may seem like an act of goodwill, it is often used as a manipulative tool to pressure people into continuing unwanted pregnancies.
- Support is typically short-term and inadequate for addressing the real challenges people face, and it obscures the larger agenda of CPCs to limit access to abortion.
Data Privacy and CPCs
- CPCs are typically registered as a non-profit and if they do not have any actual medical providers, they do not have to follow HIPAA regulations on personal information. However, they still have access to all the information they obtain from you and during your visit. This information can include:
- Your Name
- Address
- Email address
- Ethnicity
- Marital status
- Living arrangement
- Education
- Income source
- Alcohol, Cigarette, and Drug intake
- Medications and medical history
- Sexual transmitted disease history
- Name of the referring person/organization
- Pregnancy symptoms
- Pregnancy history
- Medical testing information
- Ultrasound Photos
- Fake clinics can use this information to call you long after you visited them. They will try and keep track of your pregnancy, try to get information on your abortion, and share this information with their larger organization.
- In a post-Roe world where abortion is criminalized, the use of this information may even be used to alert authorities an abortion has occurred.
False & Biased Medical Claims
Abortion Causes Breast Cancer
- CPCs often claim that having an abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. This is false. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and numerous studies confirm that there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.
Abortion Causes Infertility
- Some CPCs tell patients that abortion will make it difficult or impossible for them to get pregnant in the future. In reality, abortion, particularly when performed by a qualified provider, is a very safe procedure and does not impact future fertility.
Mental Health Consequences (“Post-Abortion Syndrome”)
- CPCs often claim that people who have abortions suffer from severe mental health problems afterward, which they call “post-abortion syndrome.” However, this is not a recognized medical condition. While people may experience a range of emotions after an abortion, major mental health problems are rare. In fact, research shows that relief is the most common emotion after an abortion.
Inaccurate Information on the Safety of Abortion
- CPCs may exaggerate the risks of abortion, such as claiming it is more dangerous than childbirth. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) states, “The risk of maternal death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than the risk associated with abortion.”
“Abortion Pill Reversal”
- Some CPCs promote the idea that a medication abortion (using pills) can be “reversed” after the first dose. This claim is not supported by reliable medical evidence. ACOG states that “abortion pill reversal” is unproven and potentially dangerous.
Depictions of Pregnancy Timelines
- CPCs often misrepresent pregnancy timelines, using inaccurate ultrasound estimates to exaggerate how far along someone is in their pregnancy. This is often done to make abortion seem less accessible or viable.
Contraception Myths
- Some CPCs spread misinformation about contraception, claiming that certain methods, such as the morning-after pill (emergency contraception), are abortifacients, which is false. They may also claim that contraception is ineffective or dangerous, discouraging people from using birth control.
To learn more about CPCs in New Mexico, visit Anti-Abortion Centers are Scary. For more information on legitimate health care, visit NM Abortion Info and our resources page.
Designed to Deceive
In 2021, the Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights & Gender Equality, released the groundbreaking report, Designed to Deceive, A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States. In it, the study finds that Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) are anti-abortion organizations that seek to reach low-income people facing unintended pregnancies to prevent them from accessing abortion and contraception. To advance their mission, they use deceptive and coercive tactics and medical disinformation.
When the report was released, New Mexico had 31 CPCs and 5 abortion clinics. As of January 2025, there are 35 CPCs and 11 abortion clinics.
As the lead organization for New Mexico, we work in coalition with our reproductive health partners to educate women about the dangers CPCs pose.
Designed to Deceive, A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States
Know before you go – Abortion Healthcare Resources:
Your Impact. Their Future.
Your impact: immediate.
The Southwest Women’s Law Center focuses on issues that impact women and girls around reproductive rights, economic security, and gender discrimination.
We fight for policies that lift women and their families from poverty, including pay equity, paid family and medical leave, and pregnant worker accommodation.
Stand with us. Together we can forge a future of equality, safety, and freedom for all women.
