New legislation would make ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ disclose whether they provide abortion support – CBC

Crisis pregnancy centres that fail to follow proposed rules would risk losing their charitable status

Oct 29, 2024

The federal government has introduced legislation that would require charities providing reproductive health services to state clearly whether they offer abortion or abortion referrals.

Organizations that fail to clearly tell their clients whether they provide these services could risk losing their charitable status.

Marci Ien, the minister for women and gender equality, said Tuesday the legislation is meant to combat the spread of “misinformation” by some charities that operate crisis pregnancy centres.

“People are walking in the doors of pregnancy crisis centres expecting to receive information on all options that are available to them,” Ien told a press conference.

“They are met with organizations that are imposing their anti-choice convictions on them.”

The new rules would require charities that provide pregnancy counselling to tell clients if they don’t provide abortion services, referrals or information about abortion services, birth control or information regarding birth control.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/abortion-services-charitable-status-1.7366854