One of my most important jobs is providing patients with information about their treatment options so they can decide what is best for them. I recently took care of a young woman I’ll call Betty who came in for abortion care in the second trimester.

She told me that before seeking care, she had gone to another clinic for “pregnancy options,” thinking she was going to a Planned Parenthood. Instead, she had gone into a Crisis Pregnancy Center—a “clinic” designed to promote birth by giving women free ultrasounds and prenatal vitamins without giving them information about abortion.

Betty was confused because the website had looked credible and she was able to get an ultrasound there, but she never heard anything about abortion, which she already knew was the right decision for her so she could finish school. She left with a box of prenatal vitamins.

She was confused and scared to seek care again because she wasn’t sure where to go, and luckily she found us a few weeks later after mustering up the courage to go to another clinic, not sure if she’d again not get all the care she was looking for. I was happy to be able to provide comprehensive reproductive health care and inform Betty equally about all of her pregnancy options so she could decide what was best for her. But I’m concerned that women go to these fake clinics and make important decisions about their health and future without knowing the facts and their options.