Last week I watched the new HBO documentary, 12th & Delaware. It documents two clinics located across the street from each other in Fort Pierce, FL. One is called A Woman’s World Medical Center and the other is called Pregnancy Care Center. A Woman’s World, opened in 1994, provides comprehensive reproductive services, including abortion. Pregnancy Care Center is a Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC), founded on “pro-life” ideas and does not provide birth control or any sort of comprehensive services. It was opened in 1999.
When I began to write about 12th & Delaware I didn’t know how to organize my thoughts. I tried different approaches and none of them sounded like anything more than a rant from an angry person. So I took a step back and thought about the film for a week. I also saved it on my boyfriend’s dvr in hopes that he would watch it. What helped me organize how I feel about it was explaining him why it is important to me that he watch it.
First I explained to him what it was about and why it’s important. Then I told him the problems with crisis pregnancy centers. I explained that they disguise themselves as women’s clinics that provide services related to pregnancy but they do not provide abortions. He looked at me and said, “okay, so what’s problem with that?” I went on to tell him that the big deal is that these CPCs lure (young) women through the door with signs that, for example, say “Pregnant? Need Help?” These messages give the idea that a pregnant woman could go into the clinic and receive the services they need or want, whether that be prenatal care, an abortion, adoption services, or other reproductive health services. I told him that this is not the case. CPCs do not perform abortions. Not only do they not perform abortions, they are extremely anti-aboriton and anti-choice. They believe that the only answer is to carry the pregnancy to full term. He understood what I was saying and seemed to have one of those ah-ha moments. I continued talking. I told him that these clinics scare me and in my opinion they are horrible. They lie to women who walk in looking for help and support and until recently they were not obligated to tell women upfront that abortion is not an option at their facility. I was upset and could have gone on forever but I stopped and he agreed to watch it.
The juxtaposition of the two clinics might have left some pro-choice viewers with something to be desired. There was not much focus on the pro-choice clinic. I definitely think that it is important to recognize the amazing work that the employees of Women’s World Medical (and the other clinics like it) do. The doctors and support staff that work at clinics that provide abortion services and comprehensive reproductive health services are heros in my eyes. But by highlighting the behavior of the employees of the CPC and the anti-choice protestors outside the pro-choice clinic, 12th & Delaware showed the closed minded, immoral, dishonest, dangerous, and harassing behavior of the pro-life movement.
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