"Most people who have been at the University are familiar with the "Late? Worried?" signs advertising for the Charlottesville Pregnancy Center. The Pregnancy Center is a self-described "life-affirming organization" that emphasizes non-abortion options to women with unplanned pregnancies. The Pregnancy Center is likely an enormously useful resource for women who choose to continue their pregnancies. It is alarming, however, to note the results of a Cavalier Daily investigation that found the Pregnancy Center is handing out literature with misleading and in some cases patently false information. An issue as grave as unwanted pregnancy demands truthfulness.

The Cavalier Daily report uncovered a variety of dubious brochures and pamphlets distributed by the Pregnancy Center. This literature, published by such ideological organizations as the American Life League and Focus on the Family, contains many pieces of information which have little to no basis in accepted science.

For instance, one brochure on the birth control pill suggests that the pill can increase a woman's "susceptibility to the AIDS virus (HIV)." Moreover, it asserts that the pill can cause various types of cancer or infertility. According to numerous independent experts, including the Food and Drug Administration, these claims are fringe at best. Dr. Christine Peterson, director of Gynecology at Student Health, confirmed in the article that the links to these side effects were unproven.

Other pamphlets dealing with emergency contraception suggest that it causes an abortion, but Peterson again said "There is absolutely no scientific proof supporting that claim." When dealing with the RU-486 "abortion pill," the Pregnancy Center-provided literature says it can cause heart attacks and "impaired future fertility," two assertions for which the FDA has found no basis.

It is disturbing to think that concerned women walking into the Pregnancy Center expecting to receive medically accurate information are instead presented with falsehoods seemingly designed to scare women away from contraception and abortion. Beyond the literature, women who don't know the particular thrust of the Pregnancy Center (which is never openly advertised) may not understand they are entering a place where abortion is deemphasized and discouraged.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Pregnancy Center holding a pro-life position. To be fair, Pregnancy Center employees were up front about the organization's Christian mission when the Cavalier Daily reporter first entered. Indeed, for women who already know they want to continue with their pregnancy or who want this particular perspective, the Pregnancy Center no doubt contains excellent resources and counsel. That is a fine niche to fill and it may even dovetail nicely with the services provided by Planned Parenthood.

Abortion is, of course, a tremendously electric issue, and emotions tend to run as high as the stakes. However, duplicity in literature helps no one. It doesn't help the concerned women who are seeking advice and information, and it doesn't help the Pregnancy Center's reputation or its ability to perform the support services it admirably offers. The Pregnancy Center needs to remove the medically inaccurate information from its shelves. For such a difficult, charged subject, that honest action would be truly affirming." (Editorial, The Cavalier Daily, January 26, 2006)