Dear John,
A recent Bloomberg investigation found that anti-choice organizations called "crisis pregnancy centers" are increasingly advertising on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat to reach pregnant teens and young people with misinformation about abortion care.1
Don't be fooled: These organizations don't actually provide abortion care–they aggressively lie to teens in their most vulnerable moments. Telling teens abortion is dangerous and unsafe, that ultrasounds or other procedures are required when they aren’t, and that local clinics don’t have appointments available when they do, are just a few tactics employed by these centers. Some experts estimate abortion bans will increase maternal mortality in women and girls of color by 33%, the same population most likely to seek abortion services from a deceitful center.2
By profiting from these centers’ advertisements, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are spreading misinformation about critical health issues to vulnerable teenagers. Sign the petition to demand that social media companies stop showing disinformation ads about abortion.
There are thousands of "crisis pregnancy centers" across the country pretending to be real medical service providers. These centers only exist to confuse, trick, and convince young people not to seek an abortion. They’re everywhere these days, including advertising on social media, where they’re giving these platforms millions in ad revenue.
Will you join MoveOn in asking TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram to STOP distributing dishonest, dangerous, and misleading crisis pregnancy center ads?
Sign the petition ››
These fake clinics are paying massive amounts of money to find vulnerable people on social media, where their parents often have no idea what their kids are seeing. Young teens turn to social media and the internet for help and advice in scary situations, like an unplanned pregnancy. Their trusted platforms shouldn't be able to profit from their suffering.
Interference from crisis pregnancy centers are designed to force people to delay other options until it's too late, with irreversible, life-changing effects.3 We must try to reduce the harm caused by crisis pregnancy centers by telling social media companies to ban these misleading ads.
Click here to add your name to this urgent petition, and then pass it along to your friends.
Thanks for all you do,
— MoveOn
This petition was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition to push for progressive change here.
Sources:
1. "Anti-Abortion Centers Find Pregnant Teens Online, Then Save Their Data" Bloomberg, June 27, 2022 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-27/anti-abortion-centers-find-pregnant-teens-online-then-save-their-data
2. "Critics Fear Abortion Bans Could Jeopardize Health of Pregnant Women," The Pew Charitable Trusts, June 22, 2022 https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/06/22/critics-fear-abortion-bans-could-jeopardize-health-of-pregnant-women
3. "Anti-abortion groups target women with misleading ads," BBC, May 17, 2022 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-61320202
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG CIVIC ACTION
