Here's a good question: "Where is Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer in defending vulnerable, pregnant women and girls who are
being lured by deceptive advertising by abortion providers
pretending to be pro-life alternative centers?"
This remark was made by Chris Slattery, the director of a genuine
abortion alternative clinic, Expectant Mother Care. Mr. Slattery
filed a lawsuit this week in state Supreme Court that accuses
"Dr. Emily" abortion clinics of multiple violations of
New York State's General Business Law Article 22-A, Section 349.
Does this sound somewhat familiar? It should, because one of the
first things Attorney General Spitzer did during his re-election
year of 2002 was to launch a witch hunt against crisis pregnancy
clinics, accusing them of false advertising and deceptive
business practices. Why did he go after charitable organizations
whose only purpose is to help women during an extremely difficult
time in their lives? The answer is quite simple: These clinics
take away business from his biggest supporters.
The attorney general and abortion rights advocates have a very
close relationship. So much so, in fact, that he's lauded in
their brochures. A New York NARAL Political Action Committee
brochure reads: "NARAL/NY was central to the narrow yet
critical triumph by Eliot Spitzer in the race for Attorney
General" in 1998. The brochure also quotes Mr. Spitzer, a
Democrat, as saying that "NARAL/NY was instrumental in my
victory."
At a 1999 NARAL luncheon, Mr. Spitzer said: "The immediate
focus of the initiative is reproductive rights, and how to
protect those rights. I know how important this is to each of
you. Every goal you have for equal opportunity in society depends
on this fundamental concept: You must control your body. You must
control your destiny. No one must interfere with the personal
decisions you make regarding your health and well being. This is
NARAL's commitment, and this is my commitment."
Well, he certainly keeps his promises to big donors. In January
2002, Mr. Spitzer subpoenaed reams of documents from 10 crisis
pregnancy clinics, including Expectant Mother Care, relating to
their operating procedures. The aim was to determine whether the
centers engaged in "false advertising and deceptive business
practices" and the unlicensed practice of medicine. The
subpoenas, which demanded the names of staff members and their
credentials, training materials, promotional information, and
data on all policies relating to client referrals, created an
onerous burden on these centers, which are nonprofit and funded
by private donations.
Mr. Spitzer subsequently withdrew the subpoenas because the
crisis clinics fought back and petitioned for their withdrawal.
Because the main purpose of the subpoenas was to harass and
intimidate the centers and publicly smear their reputation, and
because he technically didn't have a legal leg to stand on,
withdrawal was a no-brainer.
Thus, when Mr. Spitzer was running for re-election in 2002,
"false advertising and deceptive business practices"
was a cause for concern only when it appeared to affect the
business of his supporters. He never challenged any of the
abortion providers as to their qualifications.
Further proof that the attorney general was not serious about the
violation of state law forbidding false advertising and deception
is being made clear in the suit against "Dr. Emily." In
a recent appeal, Mr. Slattery wrote that Dr. Emily's Women's
Health Center "is an aggressive abortion clinic that exists
solely for the purpose of killing unborn children by a wide
variety of means - including first and second trimester abortions
through a full 24 weeks in pregnancy. In fact - this abortion
mill kills viable children - children that could live outside of
the womb."
So why is this clinic being sued by EMC? Mr. Slattery claims it
has been illegally and deceptively advertising in a section of
The Yellow Pages that is solely reserved for organizations that
do not provide abortions or references for abortions.
Hmmm. Why hasn't our attorney general been as vigilant about this
blatant deception as he was about hunting down centers that offer
pro-bono services to women? Perhaps that's the key: It's really
all about money. Every time these crisis centers help a woman
keep her baby, abortion providers like NARAL and Planned
Parenthood lose support and revenue.
Meanwhile, in accepting the NARAL endorsement for his
gubernatorial race, Mr. Spitzer said he was honored to receive
the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice New York and cited the
group's 30-year struggle to ensure that women have full access to
comprehensive reproductive health care. He ended his speech by
declaring that his goal is to make abortion safe, legal, and
rare. I've always wondered why advocates use that word
"rare."
Maybe even Mr. Spitzer realizes that abortion is really not a
good thing.