CORRECTION: Halloran Wades Into City Family Planning Debate

Correction, March 3, 12:33 p.m.: In our story posted yesterday, we mistakenly stated that Councilman Jumaane Williams, a Brooklyn Democrat, sponsored an online petition in support of crisis pregnancy centers. Williams did not post or sponsor that petition.

A spokesperson said Williams voted in favor of the bill that passed the City Council yesterday requiring CPCs to disclose certain information to its clients.

We regret the error.

Update, 6:15 p.m.: In the wake of the approval earlier today of Intro 371 by a vote of 39-9, we received the following statement from Nicole Baker Bernacet, the executive director of the Boro Pregnancy Counseling Center in Bayside (note: the following is an abridged version. For the full text, click here.):

"We are deeply trouble [sic] by the passing of this bill as it is founded on the assumption that Pregnancy Resource Centers are deceptive and out to manipulate women, which is blatantly untrue of BPCC. BPCC has always informed its clients to the services available without any intent to mislead or misrepresent itself. BPCC has over a 95 percent satisfaction rate with its clients and has never had a complaint levied against it. We fear that women and families in need will not be able to obtain the services they need to build healthy families because of the restrictions placed upon us by this bill."

Update, 4:23 p.m.: As expected, the City Council has approved legislation requiring crisis pregnancy centers to disclose information about abortions at their facilities located in the five boroughs, the Associated Press reports.

Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, weighed in on the increasingly divisive issue of abortion rights in the run-up to a planned vote by the City Council on new regulations for so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" later this afternoon.

The legislation would require the centers — which aim to help women carry their unborn babies to term — to post notices for visitors informing them as to whether there was a licensed medical professional on staff and specific services regarding abortions, emergency contraception and prenatal care.

Halloran said he planned to vote against the measure, which he said violated the center's free speech rights and would eventually be ruled unconstitutional.

A bill passed by the city of Baltimore with the same objective of requiring disclosure from CPCs was recently struck down on first amendment grounds in a federal district court.

"Make no mistake, this is about stifling the free speech of groups that are completely unfunded by the city," Halloran said of the bill, Intro 371A. "It is an unwarranted expansion of government power and curtailment of our liberties."

Through a spokesman, Halloran confirmed that though the Council member is pro-life, he did not see the issue debated by the City Council this week as a part of the decades-old debate over abortion rights.

"During the hearings, I forced the Department of Consumer Affairs to admit it had no fraud complaints about CPCs, and has never regulated any other nonprofit in a similar manner," Halloran said. 

Under the proposed legislations, CPC staff members who did not comply with the new notification guidelines would be subject to fines and even jail time.

Even though the city's small Republican delegation was expected to be united in opposition to the bill, the politics over the issue of family planning was less clear cut — particularly for moderate Democrats representing low-income minority neighborhoods with a historically high rate of abortions.

With the national debate over funding for Planned Parenthood clinics raging, race has become a hot-button issue for those on both sides of the abortion debate.

A paid for by a pro-life group focusing on the comparatively high rate of abortion among African-Americans was pulled down last week in the wake of a furor by many city residents.

"Many women, especially low income women, don't have a choice. They are brow beaten into making a decision," said Steven Stites, a Halloran spokesman, of CPCs. "It's about giving a range of options."

A staff member at Boro Pregnancy Counseling Center in Bayside referred calls for comment on the disclosure legislation to its national affiliate, Care Net. Those calls were not immediately returned.

"There is no abortion exception to the First Amendment. And the Baltimore case shows that the government cannot compel speech because people want to talk about pregnancy from a pro-life perspective," said Matt Bowman, legal consul at the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance Defense Fund. 

Bowman stopped just shot of a promise of legal action if the bill was passed today by the City Council.

"We are prepared to bring legal action to protect pro-life pregnancy centers in New York City, just as we have done across the country," he said.