âÄúPregnant? No pressure. No judgment. Just answers,âÄù reads a common advertisement in the Minnesota Daily for First Care Pregnancy Center on Oak Street in Stadium Village. However, no information is provided indicating that this is not a medical facility, does not employ medical practitioners and does not even provide medically accurate information.

What goes on in crisis pregnancy centers âÄî like First Care in Stadium Village or University LifeCare Center in Dinkytown âÄî is jaw-dropping to anyone who felt secure in thinking that abortion was still a legal right.

In reality, these centers attempt to coerce and intimidate pregnant women to prevent them from exercising or even considering their legal right to an abortion.

Crisis pregnancy centers prevent women from receiving unbiased and comprehensive medical advice. A recent Congressional report found that 87 percent of such centers provided false or misleading information about the health risks of abortion.

Regardless of pro-life or pro-choice labels, we should recognize that this is unacceptable information to give to women in crisis. This is why we urge the Daily to instate a truth-in-advertising policy. This would require a disclaimer on advertisements for these centers stating that they do not provide abortion or birth control referrals or services.

Anyone of any political affiliation, and especially journalists, can understand the necessity of presenting accurate information in the most unbiased way possible.

We are not asking to infringe upon the rights of crisis pregnancy centers to advertise or conduct business as they wish; we are asking that purportedly unbiased third parties, like the Daily, maintain a commitment to clarity and truth.