Pittsburgh City Council recently voted to regulate “deceptive advertising by limited service pregnancy centers.” The argument is that a center that does not offer abortion services is “deceptive.” Yet there is a vast difference between facilitating abortions and supporting women through pregnancy, birth and beyond.

My wife and I support several such centers in the region. Among them are Women’s Choice Network (Allegheny County), TryLife Center (Westmoreland) and Life Choices (Armstrong). The mission of these centers is to support women and couples who choose to have a child. Each organization goes to great lengths to make this clear, both online and in advertising.

As a result, their clients are not confused about the services they offer. When they approach these centers, they are not unclear about their options. The vast majority are seeking support for a decision they have already made. They come to these centers for material support, counseling, prenatal care and even housing.

Do abortion clinics provide these services? No, they do not. They may present themselves as “pregnancy centers,” but that is — in a word — deceptive. They offer none of the services or support that a true pregnancy center does.

If the city wants to regulate “deceptive advertising,” there is an obvious target. Look no further than the abortion clinics in the region. It is those facilities that deceptively claim to be “pregnancy centers.” Attacking the organizations that truly do function as pregnancy centers is the height of hypocrisy.

Sam Robb

Tarentum

The writer is on the board of directors of TryLife Center and is vice chair of the Pro Life Libertarian Caucus.

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