New Bill Introduced to Stop False Advertising to the Most Vulnerable: Pregnant Women.
For years, health crisis centers for pregnant women have fought against rogue elements providing false information about abortion services. Using the Internet and phonebook advertising, anti-abortion groups pose as counseling centers and pretend to offer counseling and information services about abortion to pregnant women. In actuality, these groups direct viewers to fake sites that provide false information about abortion options, and provide counseling designed to persuade women to keep their unwanted babies, even when keeping the baby represents a significant risk to the mother’s health.
This month, women’s health centers are asking women to contact their congressperson about a bill recently introduced to “direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules to prevent deceptive advertising of abortion services.” The ”Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act” would provide special guidelines specifically related to how crisis centers would be able to advertise what they offer.
Practice Note: The bill seeks to tie the act to the already existing powers held by the FTC under Section 5 of The FTC Act, which regulates false and deceptive advertising. Even if the bill does not pass, under the current power, the FTC could independently go after these agencies for their deceptive ads.