The Pregnancy Resource Center has a hidden agenda.
The Pregnancy Resource Center of Athens County on Court Street might sound like a place where women can go to hear all of their options if they believe they might be pregnant, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Many people recognize the center by its purple sign hanging on the door reading, “free pregnancy tests.” It might appear to be a health clinic, but it actually seems to be a religious organization with an agenda, where, to my knowledge, no one has any formal medical training except for one nurse. Unlike a typical hospital or health clinic, the employees aren’t doctors, so they don’t have the authority to administer the pregnancy tests themselves. You have to sign a form when you show up stating you took the test yourself.
Earlier this semester, I went in to the center to get information about how they work. I didn’t identify myself as a columnist because I didn’t want my experience to be different than anyone else’s. Another student on campus who agreed to share her experience — as long as her name remained anonymous — went in last semester after researching resource centers that push religious agendas on patients. She also wanted to know how they operate and if they are honest about their religious agenda.
The student said that when she first arrived in the waiting room, she was told she could have an abortion until 19 weeks and six days after conception in Ohio. As she waited, the employee suggested she look at the baby clothing the center has to offer.
“She said it as in, ‘Here’s plan A and here’s the more preferable plan B. Look at our room full of baby things.’ (They were) already pushing the keep-your-baby agenda.”
She and I had similar experiences. On both occasions, the pregnancy test was taken out of our hands afterwards, even though we administered the test ourselves. “literally taking personal agency out of our hands,” the student said.
When I left the facility, I was given a packet of pamphlets. One form states, “Yes, STIs can be prevented. Avoid sexual activity if you are single. Be faithful to one uninfected partner for the rest of your life. This is the only way to avoid risk of infection.”
Instead, you could use proper protection such as condoms and dental dams, and communicate with your partner(s) about getting tested. They also frame people who have STIs as unwanted or damaged. There are many options for people with STIs to have safe and healthy sex. There are also numerous places on campus that offer free condoms and dental dams, including Campus Care in Hudson, the Women’s Center and the LGBT Center in Baker Center.
The same pamphlet also states, “The fewer people you have sex with, the lower your risk of getting STIs.” This simply isn’t true. People can contract STIs with their first partner.
While in the center, the student said she asked why one of their forms takes such a negative view of condoms. The woman working at the center told her it’s because condoms aren’t effective. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, condoms have an 82 percent effectiveness rate, and correct usage can prevent against STDs and HIV. The student said she kept pressing about their use of wrong information.
Another huge problem is the way the employees in the center portray abortion. An employee at the center told me she wouldn’t have an abortion without reading the form they hand out first. Their form states that a fertilized egg, even before implanted to the uterine wall, is “clearly a person.”
The worst of the pamphlets, which was given to my friend last semester but not to me, is incredibly slut-shaming. It frames men as always wanting sex without being able to control themselves. One of the sections directed exclusively toward women is titled “How to Show the World You’re Completely Desperate and Have No Self-Respect Without Having to Wear a Sign.” Some of the examples include letting men know what turns you on (communicative sex should be encouraged), licking your lips a lot and laughing.
“It was very much pushing a religious narrative without admitting that it was religious and masquerading as a medical clinic,” the student said.
Their patriarchal agenda is blatant and obvious, and should be known before anyone steps into that center.
Jessica Ensley is a senior studying journalism and an active member of F--kRapeCulture. Email her at je726810@ohio.edu.
