Katie Christensen

ND State Director, External Affairs, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

Fargo

It’s that time again, when North Dakota lawmakers ignore individual freedom, public health best practices and medical research to instead promote an unscientific and dangerous agenda that will undoubtably harm North Dakotans. Our politicians’ actions put us on the fast track to a religiously governed state.

So far, politicians rejected paid family leave and pushed forward a plan to send public dollars to private (religious) schools. They introduced bills that limit reproductive healthcare and countless others that harm trans and LGBTQIA+ people.

Beyond that, North Dakota lawmakers are looking to pump taxpayer money into crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which are ideologically aligned organizations that pose as medical health centers to deliberately persuade pregnant people away from abortion care. These fake clinics promote inaccurate information about abortion, emergency contraception and refuse to provide medically accurate birth control options. SB 2129 and SB 2195 combined would allocate $8M with very little oversight to faith groups and crisis pregnancy centers.

Many CPCs are not medical providers and are not governed by regulations such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), leaving patients’ information or confidentiality unprotected. HB 1509 sponsored by Representative Liz Conmy aims to set those standards and regulations in North Dakota.

What people don’t realize is that CPCs often attempt to force those seeking assistance to ascribe to their faith in exchange for support. If you need proof, check out the FAQ section on the website of The Perry Center, a maternity home in Fargo. It reads, “We just ask that you are willing to explore who Jesus is and how that impacts your life by attending one church service per week, participating in a Bible study and through one-on-one discipleship.” Pregnant people need nonjudgmental, unbiased, and medically accurate reproductive health information not mission-based manipulation during their time of need.

While choosing to fund fake health centers, these politicians continue to ignore family planning. Family planning refers to methods that allow individuals and families to plan and prevent pregnancies according to their life plans; dramatically improving maternal and child health, boosting the economic wellbeing of women, and decreasing incidence of sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

The North Dakota State Legislature invests ZERO dollars in family planning services. Let that sink in.

Investing in family planning is proven to create healthier families and communities. In 2008, Colorado significantly boosted its family planning services through training, operational support, and access to contraceptives for women with lower incomes. The outcomes were inspiring. Teen birth and abortion rates plummeted by 60%. The state of Colorado estimates that this initiative saved taxpayers millions in public assistance costs over a five-year period.