Free, but at what cost? How US crisis pregnancy centres provide services

Bibliographic Data

ID15099028
AuthorsAlexandra Kissling (0000-0002-6432-8107, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, OH, USA), Priya Gursahaney (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati (UC), Cincinnati, OH, USA), Priya R Gursahaney (0000-0002-2080-5389, University of Cincinnati), Alison Holt Norris (0000-0002-1864-9583, Division of Epidemiology, OSU, Columbus, OH, USA), Danielle Bessett (0000-0002-8743-368X, Department of Sociology, UC, Cincinnati, OH, USA), Maria Gallo (0000-0002-9411-4767, Division of Epidemiology, OSU, Columbus, OH, USA, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume25
Issue8
Pages1024-1038
Publication date2023-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2022.2116489
PMID36063457
OpenAlexW4294631804
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited15

In the USA, the most popular form of anti-abortion activism, crisis pregnancy centres (CPCs), provide a variety of services to prevent abortions. Moving beyond debate about misinformation and the ethics of CPCs, this study considers the services they provide and given their popularity among state legislatures, their connection to the state. Using interviews with ten CPC staff in Ohio (a state providing support to CPCs) and supplemental data from both state and CPC organisations, we find three relevant themes. First, CPC services reflect ideas about personal responsibility and Christianity held by the CPC staff. Second, we show that CPCs have assumed a variety of state duties (e.g. pregnancy testing and parenting classes), appealing to lawmakers in conservative states eager to transfer responsibility for disadvantaged residents to other entities. Finally, we consider the future direction of CPCs, highlighting tension between organisational goals (focusing on abortion prevention) and the on-the-ground experience of CPC staff (where non-pregnant clients need material aid). Drawing theoretical connections between CPC staff and social service workers sheds light on whose responsibility it is to address poverty in a post-welfare era

Abortion · Business · Disadvantaged · Misinformation · Political science · Popularity · Poverty · Pregnancy · Public relations · Service (business · Service delivery framework · Social Welfare · State (computer science · Variety (cybernetics · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies