Clinics Without Care
Council tries to rework its CPC regulations
By Jordan Smith, Fri., Jan. 27, 2012
City Council is scheduled today (Thursday) to consider revising or repealing an ordinance requiring crisis pregnancy centers to post information about their operations. A 2010 Bill Spelman-sponsored ordinance required the pregnancy centers – mainly faith-based groups that do not provide medical care – to post signage stating that they do not provide abortion-related services or birth control. In response, several local CPC operators sued – as did similar clinics elsewhere – claiming the ordinance violates First Amendment protections. The city's legal department is advising a repeal of the ordinance pending resolution of national litigation. Two items on this week's agenda address the issue: The first (Item 17) would repeal the current ordinance, while the second (Item 45) proposes a new ordinance that would require a CPC to post signage stating simply whether it employs a licensed health care provider and whether the center is regulated by state or federal authority to provide medical services. As with the current ordinance, a failure to comply would be a class C misdemeanor, punishable by fine only.
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