Week of Action: Don't Get Tricked, Get Treated.

Campuses across the nation are gearing up for our national week of action to expose Crisis Pregnancy Centers. It is going to be the week of Halloween, October 25-31st,2009 and its called "Don't Get Tricked, Get Treated."


Now, as our campus groups are going back to school and mobilizing on exposing fake clinics, they are asking what they can do before and during our week of action. The campus team has come up with great ideas that you may want to take on!

1. Create education flyers and posters identifying comprehensive women's health clinics and waring people are fake clinics in your area.
2. Talk to your Campus Health Center, and ask if they refer students to CPCs. Almost half of 4-year universities in the US do! If your Health Center on campus refers women to CPCs, make them stop!
3. Host a screening of FMF's two videos on the deception of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which can be found here.
4. Stage a protest at your nearest CPC, warning women about their deceptive practices.
5. Host a "haunted clinic" at your school. Instead of ghosts and gouls, emulate what goes on inside a creepy CPC.
6. Photo campaign! Take pictures of people holding up signs with what they want to say about CPCs. This can be easily done when tabling and informing people about CPCs. Some ideas: "I don't want to be lied to." "CPCs deceive women." "Abortions DO NOT cause breast cancer." "My women's health clinic should give accurate information about birth control and abortion." "My body, my choice." You get the idea. Take these photos and post them on campus, in a facebook album, create a photo blog, or send it to your legislators!
7. Burma Shave Signs. These are consecutive signs posted one after another at a visible place on campus. Here is an example:

• You wouldn't want your dentist telling you that brushing your teeth will give you cavities.
• So why would you want (insert name of local CPC) saying that birth control is ineffective?
• or that abortion will give you breast cancer?
• or make you infertile?
• or make you more likely to commit suicide?
• Crisis Pregnancy Centers deceive women!

These are just some ideas. Feel free to come up with your own. We'd love to hear about it! Share your ideas and actions with us. Email the campus team at campusteam@feminist.org

Lastly! Let me announce that FMF is having a video contest! Make a video showing us what your campus is doing to expose fake clinics. Do you have a great idea to get to word out? Personal experiences? Want to share how you feel about CPCs? We want to see it. The winner will have their video screened at the Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference as well as the National Conference in the Spring, and be presented by feminst actor, Amy Brenneman! Deadline to submit videos is November 1st. Please send your submissions to me, Jacqueline Sun, jsun@feminist.org. And remember to keep your videos less than 10 minutes long!

Now just because Don't Get Tricked, Get Treated isn't until Halloween doesn't mean you shouldn't be taking action before and after this week of action on exposing fake clinics! The more visibility you create, the more success we have at exposing fake clinics.

photo courtesy of flickr.com/ereneta.