TASC community,
In addition to providing direct support to people seeking abortion care, TASC is dedicated to protecting abortion access in our community, and we need your help.
If you’ve ever been to the only medical facility that provides abortion care in Southern Arizona (Formerly Tucson Women’s center, recently renamed the Planned Parenthood Southern AZ Regional Health Center) you’ve probably seen the anti-choice protesters on the sidewalk outside. Maybe they’ve asked to talk to you or given you a gift bag. Maybe they weren’t what you expected - they don’t hold up giant photos like the protestors at other clinics, or yell or threaten patients. These folks are part of a growing trend in the anti-choice community, they call themselves “sidewalk advocates” and their sole mission is to divert people from the clinic so they can end abortion. Here in Tucson they’re affiliated with Hands of Hope, a Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Hands of Hope recently purchased a building in the same medical plaza as Planned Parenthood, just around the corner. Fake Clinics like Hands of Hope leverage their proximity to real clinics to gain access to people seeking medical care from a licensed facility, whom they lure inside in order to coerce them into continuing a pregnancy. This fake clinic and it’s sidewalk advocates, Pro Love Tucson, are part of an anti-choice movement that believes their presence outside of a clinic increases cancellation rates, and causes clinics to close their doors, leading to the end of abortion. It’s time to come together as a community to expose Hands of Hope and safeguard a path for people seeking reproductive care.
Following the lead of organizers at #ExposeFakeClinics, we’re launching an online action to expose Hands of Hope.
You can help by leaving a review for Hands of Hope on Yelp, Google, or Facebook. Post on social media using the hashtag #HandsOfNope
Before leaving a review, take a few minutes to browse one or two of these links: their website, their fundraising page, their facebook, their mission statement (page 2) and information about the sidewalk advocates they partner with, Pro Love Tucson. Remember that we want reviews to be honest, truthful, and clear. Write about something you read on their website that was contradictory or misleading. Write about what they told you on the phone when you called to ask about access to abortion. Write about what you know about CPC’s in general. Write about what you know to be true. If you feel comfortable sharing, include personal experiences with Hands of Hope or the protesters outside the clinic. Pregnant people looking for actual reproductive care come across Hands of Hope every day, and these reviews are for them.
Need a few ideas of what to say? Here are some things to think about from #exposefakeclinics
-Do they provide “limited ultrasound”? This means it’s conducted by an unlicensed technician and the state doesn’t recognize it. Yikes. Or do they offer “laboratory rated urine pregnancy tests”? Um, that describes all pregnancy tests. (Hands of Hope offers limited ultrasounds)
-Do they offer opinions on sex before marriage, even if thinly veiled? (Hands of Hope mentions “sexual brokenness” and “teaching sexual integrity” immediately on their website and Pro Love hands out information on Natural Family Planning in lieu of contraception)
-When describing abortion, do they mention any of the following [medically disproven!] “risks”: breast cancer / medical complications / mental health problems / future infertility / fetal pain / sexual dysfunction / other risks to fetus / post abortion stress syndrome? (Pro Love Tucson hands out information about “abortion pill reversal” which is not scientifically proven and is a dangerous myth to spread, and Hands of Hope has a heavy emphasis on mental health and emotional struggles after abortion)
We are so grateful to be in community with you all!
#HandsOfNope
TASC