Hana’s CPC Story:
Tricked and Tramatized
A young college student told her story of visiting a CPC in Massachusetts in
“Hana’s Story: Tricked and Traumatized by a Fake Abortion Clinic,”
Ms. Magazine, May 4, 2022.
Homepage screenshot of the Worcester Women’s Clinic at 495 Pleasant Street in Worcester, Massachusetts—the fake clinic that deceived Hana.
“The website used all the right language. I even knew about CPCs before this whole ordeal. I completely fell for it because it made the website seem like a medical clinic. It included stuff about services you may need. It was as if it said, ‘Abortion is something that we do’ without ever actually using those words. It was only when I got there that I was informed, ‘We don’t actually provide that service.’”
When Hana texted with her concern that she was at a CPC rather than a real medical clinic, the CPC told her she was at the right place.
A photo inside of the Worcester Women’s Clinic aka Problem Pregnancy, taken by Hana. In 1986, Planned Parenthood successfully sued Problem Pregnancy for trademark infringement because they used “PP” on their door.
“After the ultrasound, they took me back to the room that I had been in before. Then they really just started laying into me with all of this rhetoric and propaganda. I think the only thing that saved me was that I’m a pre-health student. I study public health. I know the science. I had the capacity to say, ‘That’s wrong. And you’re wrong. I think it’s time for me to leave.’”
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“The feelings I felt when I found out [I was pregnant] were only compounded by this experience. More than anything, it made me feel guilty about my decision. Because for a split second I wondered if maybe I could do this, maybe I should do this. Not only did they try to deceive me, but they tried to lure me into an unachievable dream. And so I felt guilty because I knew that carrying this pregnancy to term was not the right decision for me, but for a second I had let myself fall in love with a dream that would ruin three people’s lives.”
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“I think that’s one of the ultimate evils, especially when you’re dealing with vulnerable women in this position—saying you shouldn’t even be trusted with your own body. You shouldn’t even be trusted with information that’s accurate. I think that’s truly one of the worst things you can do.”
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“The ‘counselor’ who met with me had this authority about her and it was only because I have been raised to call these things out and because I have the privilege of knowing about the science of reproduction that I was able to say, ‘This is bullshit.’ I think a lot of other people would just believe.”
Protesters outside the Worcester CPC where Hana was deceived on May 23, 2023.
“One in three women will have an abortion at some point in their lifetime, and they made me feel bad for being one of those women. They tried to make me fear what my future would look like if I did this. They knew I was a vulnerable young woman, and they took advantage of it. The anti-choice movement has poisoned the basic ability of people to get access to accurate information, and I’m aware of that now more than ever.”
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“When I actually connected with a real women’s health clinic after this experience, I was so incredibly skeptical. It was so hard to let myself trust anyone who knew about my health, and I was so guarded with all of my information. Because I’ve had to go through this already once. It’s hard to let yourself be open about this incredibly scary thing.”
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“They have my first and last name, my phone number, my age, where I go to school and where I live. They have all this information about me, and I have no idea what they are going to do with it.”
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“I want to tell my story about this because other people shouldn’t have to go through this. Other people shouldn’t have to put their trust in someone who isn’t there for them. Pregnancy, especially unplanned pregnancy, is a time of such uncertainty and fear. I want to make sure the groups who would seek to weaponize these feelings are stopped, and part of that is knowing what they look like. These places lose all of their power when we bring them into the light and name them for what they really are. So I guess part of this is personal, too, because I get to take back my power by saying, ‘know who you are.’”
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For more information about the Worcester CPC that tricked and traumatized Hana, see Crisis Pregnancy Centers Like Problem Pregnancy Disguise Anti-Abortion Stance With Pro-Choice Messaging, Teen Vogue, March 2023.