The Associated Press Stylebook now advises journalists to refer to crisis pregnancy centers as “anti-abortion counseling centers.” And that “anti-abortion” label draws sharp criticism from a wide range of pro-life leaders. In a recent update to its style guide, the Associated Press recommends “avoiding potentially misleading terms such as pregnancy resource centers or pregnancy counseling centers.”
Instead, the Associated Press suggests using the terms “anti-abortion counseling centers,” “crisis pregnancy centers that oppose abortion,” or “anti-abortion centers.” “These terms can be used for centers set up to divert or prevent women from having abortions, through the use of counseling, material support and/or housing in an effort to encourage women to bring their pregnancy at the right time,” says Stylebook.
In an article from The Pilot, a Catholic newspaper, Care Net President and CEO Roland Warren said the change to the AP Stylebook was seen as biased journalism.
“Instead of sticking to a neutral term, the AP appears to have chosen terminology that favors the approach of the pro-choice movement to discredit pregnancy centers,” he said.
“In substance, the Associated Press’s guidance is devastating,” said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute. in The Daily Signal. The Lozier Institute is the research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
“The purpose of pregnancy help centers is just that, help,” Donovan said. “They are staffed by medical and counseling professionals and dedicated volunteers who provide a wonderful range of free services to women facing unexpected pregnancies…The centers explain that they do not offer abortions and do not it is considered a practice that benefits women and families. ”
In The pilotWarren noted that the US Department of Justice and the FBI consider pregnancy centers, like abortion clinics, to be “reproductive health care facilities” according to the protections afforded to them under the 1994 Federal FACE Act.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or the FACE Act, “prohibits violent, intimidating, harmful and obstructive conduct intended to harm, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain or provide health services reproductive,” including “pro-life pregnancy counseling services” as defined by the Justice Department.
“One would think that the AP would call us what we really are, according to the federal government’s guidelines,” Warren said.
Kristi Hamrick, chief media and policy strategist at Students for Life of America, told the Catholic News Agency that “the Associated Press exposes itself to political correctness in an effort to improve how to explain public service organizations.”
“Without any sense of irony, they want to call Pregnancy Resource Centers ‘anti-abortion centers,’ which diminishes the love and support nonprofits offer to mothers and their children, born and preborn,” said by Hamrick.
In a Gospel Coalition videoRoland Warren explains how crisis pregnancy centers and the “compassionate care” they offer can help change the public’s perception of abortion.
“Life decisions require life support and pregnancy resource centers or crisis pregnancy centers are there to have life support for someone facing a pregnancy decision to give them compassion which is an alternative to abortion,” he said.
Meanwhile, Donovan, at The Daily Signal article, pointed out that crisis pregnancy centers help everyone with doors open for women to seek counseling and support after all types of pregnancy loss.
“It’s about time the authors of the AP Stylebook visited some of the thousands of thriving centers everywhere in the US and returned the guide to a standard of high-quality reporting content and ethics,” said he.
