Marie Claire Magazine Writing on CPCs

I found this comment from a visitor to Abortion Clinic Days

Hi there
I am a reporter for Marie Claire magazine working on a lengthy feature about "crisis pregnancy centers" and I love your site. I am looking to talk with women who have been deceived by CPCs. I am wondering if you can help. Of course I wouldn't expect you to divulge their identity to me, but if you could pass along my information, I would greatly appreciate it.

All the best
Siobhan O'Connor
Reporter, Marie Claire Magazine

I don't know much about this magazine's affiliations, but the first thing I noticed is that the reporter applauds the work of the abortionclinicdays blog owners, two abortion providers, indicating that she's likely an advid supporter of "choice". The second thing I noticed is the language of the reporter's request, "I am looking to talk with women who have been deceived by CPCs." The language the reporter chose indicates that the focus on the CPCs is likely going to be a negative one. First of all, she only wrote to a strongly pro-choice blog, and second, if she was really writing a balanced story, she could of chosen different words, such as, "I'm looking for women's experienes at a CPC", thereby inviting all experiences. Not all places that we call CPCs operate in the way we think of CPCs. There are some out there that are not duplicitous and dishonest, and those which are, are largely in the minority. Mostly the issue pro-choicers take with CPCs is political/ideological, CPCs do not provide or refer for birth control or abortion services. Evenso, a number of CPCs have been cooperating with the law and have been providing valuable support services to thousands of women who've chosen alternatives to abortion. I encourage you check in to your local CPC and their services, consider donating (volunteer time, clothing, baby supplies, etc). And if any of you ladies out there have had a positive experience at a CPC, share your experience with the magazine reporter too!

Also See my Article:
A Consumer's Guide to "Anti-Abortion Counseling Centers"

Update:
Ms. O'Connor has requested that I remove her e-mail address and I'm honoring her request. But in the meanwhile, feel free to continue to comment here or at Dawn Eden's blog. The English version of the magazine can be found at IVillage: Marie Claire Magazine and while I was unable to find Ms. O'Connor's business contact information, contacts for the magazine are:

Talk to Us!
MyMCLife@hearst.com
Editorial Offices
1790 Broadway
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019
(212)-649-5000

Customer Service Department, Marie Claire
P.O. Box 7404
Red Oak, Iowa 51591
Toll-free Number: 1-800-777-3287

Second Update, Other Blogs Takes on This:
Fair, Balanced, Unbiased Reporter Seeks Info on Evil, No-Good, Very-Bad Pregnancy Centers
by Dawn Eden of The Dawn Patrol
Marie Claire: Making up the news--as long as it supports the pro-abort position
by Jacquefromtexas
You Can't Top Dawn Eden on Headlines
by JivinJehoshaphat

Marie Claire Magazine Writing on CPCs
by Christina of Real Choice

Third Update:
Jivin' J gives us an update in Unbiased reporter redux:

Not only did Marie Claire reporter Siobhan O'Connor leave a message at the blog of an abortion provider looking 'for young women 18-35 who have been deceived by' crisis pregnancy centers, she also sent an e-mail to the National Network of Abortion Funds, which in turn sent the suggestion out to their e-mail list. One place their e-mail can be seen is under the topic "Fake Clinic Stories" at the Maggot Punks forum.
In addition, through Google, I've found that Ms. O'Connor has also sent her request to the pro-choice, abortion activism website I'm Not Sorry.
Christina of Real Choice in addition, has made an excellent suggestion:

Let's flood her with stories of women satisfied with the services they got at CPCs. She said she wanted to tell a "balanced story." So let's take her at her word. If you have experience with a prolife pregnancy center, send her your story at: [see Christina's entry for the e-mail address - Rachael]

H/T to Jivin' J via After Abortion and Real Choice

Fourth Update:
Dawn Eden of the Dawn Patrol gives us an update in 'Meet the Interloper'

Turns out she found a willing participant in "iamnotanoctopus," whose real name appears to be Melissa*. Melissa's CPC "deception" didn't keep her from having at least two abortions, according to her blog — the most recent one last month [which was February - Rachael's note].

Fifth and Final Update:
It appears that this article was called off and never published. However, in August of 2006, another article on abortion was pusblished in the UK issue of Marie Claire, titled, "I had an abortion". The article focuses on the stories of 12 women who have had an abortion and are each pictured wearing a t-shirt bearing the same slogan (‘I had an abortion’) / The article coincides with a recently supported abortion rights event in the House of Commons which called for women to “Speak out and break the silence on abortion...”. It is also worth noting that within the Advice section at the bottom of the page, the contact details of Abortion Rights plus 2 abortion providers (BPAS and Marie Stopes International) are given. There is no reference to a pro-life or other such organizations.
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/reports/I_had_an_abortion_article_88600.html
H/T to The Lady in the Pew

Original Comments Made for This Entry:

Christina wrote:
This really gets me. Why is it so much worse to be annoyed by prolifers than killed by prochoicers? Why is it that as long as the baby dies, it's a happy ending, even if mom dies, too, but if the baby lives, it's a heinous crime against humanity, no matter how happy mom is about it?
Of all the things abortion advocates do, this is the one that angers me the most. It shows so clearly what their priorities are, and how little women's well-being -- or even women's real -- matters.

Siobhan O'Connor wrote:
Hi there I am writing a balanced piece represending both sides of the equation--best not to assume what the piece is about befor it's out though I can see how the language might be misleading. Thanks for all the emails, but please now remove my email address from your website. I will check back for posts! Thanks

Rachael wrote:
Ms. O'Connor,
Thank you for stopping by. I have a feeling you only say this to appease us. I find your claim that you're writing a balanced story doubtable considering you publicly asked for only negative stories and the language you used strongly implies that it's going to be anything but balanced. Well, we'll see, but I'm not holding my breath.

Christina wrote:
Ms. O'Connor,
I have to agree with Rachael that due to the tone of your request, and where you went looking for input, that we're not holding our breath waiting for a balanced piece.
I'd suggest comparing dissatisfied customers of both CPCs and abortion facilities. I can refer you to Marla Cardamone's mom. Marla was browbeaten into an unwanted abortion at Magee Women's Hospital. Marla's abortion was botched, and she was left virtually unattended to die. I can also put you in touch with Kay Stile, whose daughter, Christi, was left in a vegetative state after her safe and legal abortion. I can refer you to Angele, who gave birth to a live, doomed, premature baby in an abortion clinic toilet. You can also go here to learn Ashli's dissatisfied-customer story:
http://thesiclecell.blogspot.com/
See which side gets the worse worst-case scenario when they're misled and mistreated.

Paula wrote:
Hello Ms. O'Connor You stated that you are "writing a balanced piece represending both sides of the equation".
Have you also taken time to request information from people who have had positive experiences with CPCs? If so, what sort of groups have you made this request with?
Thank you ahead for your response.
p.s. if indeed you produce a fair and unbiased piece, it will be very refreshing, long overdue, and extremely beneficial to women. But frankly, I would doubt that with the nature of the magazine you represent, they will want to print it. I truly hope my opinion is incorrect, and I wish you well in your intent to be able to publish such a piece with Marie Claire magazine. I hope you are successful and honest.

Annie Banno wrote:
Dear Ms. O'Connor (since you said you'd be checking back here),
I'm not sure what Rachael's guidelines are but most bloggers will not print email correspondence or addresses only upon initial request. Since you appeared not to request that, you lost the right to keep your email offline here. Plus your request to remove it only after you began receiving emails from those who could truly give you a "balanced" accounting of CPCs, makes your motives and intentions suspect at best and unbalanced at worst.
If you want to be outraged at how CPCs have allegedly "deceived" any women, then be outraged at all the truth: and look at this list of women (complete with hotlinks to every single news item; http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa0214 06a.htm ) who've died because of going to CPCs versus those who died by going to legal abortion clinics for legal abortions. The list is made quite easy for you to do your "research" and "reporting", unless of course your only intent was and is to bury your head in the sand regarding these truths.
My email address is smok22andthensome@yahoo.com . Feel free to ask me for more balanced information as well.
Sincerely, Annie Banno

Naaman wrote:
In all fairness, I also like the abortionclinicdays blog, and I am extremely pro-life. Merely admiring a good blog (even if you passionately disagree with the bloggers) does not show any bias by itself.
However...
The fact that she's only looking for "women who have been deceived by CPCs" is much more troubling. As others have said, that's only one side of the story. For a truly-unbiased story, I hope that she is also looking for women who have been helped by CPCs. For extra credit, she can do some research into women who have been deceived by abortion clinics....

Rachael wrote:
Paula,
Elequently put and better said than I could. Thank you!
Annie,
I don't have a comment guideline on this particular issue (although my commenting guidelines can be found on my user information and I also mantain the Harris Protocol. I usually honor requests to maintain privacy, regardless of political stance. You make some good points, though. For those who are interested in contacting her, while her e-mail address is not provided here, her e-mail address can be found at any of the linked blogs, who've also written on this.
Naaman,
When weighing my opinion, I took into account both her applauding abortionclinicdays and her negativity towards CPCs.
And just a friendly reminder to the variety of pro-lifers out there, if you wish to write to Ms. O'Connor I encourage you to use respect and common curtesy. And please refrain from sending threatening or harassing letters, as this won't earn us any more respect or credibility.

Annie B. wrote:
Any new news on Siobhan's article? Is it out yet?

Rachael wrote:
Annie,
I just checked both March and April magazine issues here in the U.S. and it doesn't appear to be out yet. Also, if my readers in the UK could check their magazine issues over there too, that'd be great. The most recent update I have is the one from Jivin' J. Ms. O'Connor, If you are indeed still out there and reading this entry, what is the expected publication date or issue? We look forward to reading the magazine article.