National "Don't Be Fooled by Fake Clinics" Week of Action is Coming Up!

Hey feminists! It's time to start mobilizing. It's just one week until our, "Don't Be Fooled by Fake Clinics" National Week of Action, taking place the week leading up to April Fool's Day (March 28th to April 1st). What is a fake clinic and why should we expose it, you ask? Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) are clinics that pose to be comprehensive women's health clinics. These "clinics" have an agenda to dissuade women from their options and restrict people from gaining access to contraceptives, abortions, and abortion referrals. This week of action leading up to April Fools Day is a way to raise awareness about deceptive clinics and promote action in your community. If your club/organization hasn't started organizing for next week, here are a few things to consider before planning events and actions:

• Read through our Action Kit to get started.
• Go to your campus health center, and see what health/women's clinics your school refers people to. Does your school promote CPCs?
• If there are fake clinics on your school's referral list, pressure them to pull misleading ads or post disclaimers about what services a clinic provides (and does not provide).
• Post educational flyers in your area to tell people what CPCs are (see our example here).
• Organize a SPEAK OUT and have students share their stories and opinions about CPCs. Your voice is powerful!
• Organize a photo campaign to and post your pictures on social media sites.
• Get in contact with your local school newspaper to advertise your action plans and cover what your club is doing.
• Circulate this petition to stop deceptive advertising and federal funding of fake women's health clinics.
• Host a screening of Let's Talk About Sex about sex education in the U.S.
• Host a screening of 12th & Delaware and use our videos as a starting point for discussion.

These are a few tips to help you get started before "Don't Be Fooled by Fake Clinics" week. If you need more action ideas, check out this link. Be sure to let us know what your club is up to by sending pictures and your action plans to campusteam@feminist.org!

Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics During the Month of April

The FMF's “Don’t Be Fooled By Fake Clinics” Day of Action is TOMORROW! But between spring break and spring fever, it's alright if you don't have an action planned - you can take action any time during the month of April!

With $250 million being funneled back into failed abstinence-only programs, we're sure to see MILLIONS of OUR TAX DOLLARS going to fuel fake clinics' false information and deceptive advertising.

It is crucial that you help get the word out about fake clinics near your campus. You can teach students the truth about the quacks at Crisis Pregnancy Centers by:

- Getting the word out with educational “Don’t Be Fooled” Facts, candy and condoms
- Having students sign our petition to stop deceptive advertising and funding for fake clinics
- Screening our investigative videos
- Proposing a "Truth in Advertising" disclaimer on campus if your campus health center refers to CPCs, or campus newspaper accepts ads from CPCs

Check out our “Don’t Be Fooled By Fake Clinics” Action Series for more ideas. Don’t let the quacks of fake clinics fool students on your campus!

Photo courtesy of flikr.com

April 1 is "Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics" National Day of Action! What are you doing?

This April Fools’ Day, join FMF and campuses across the nation as we expose something that’s no joke…FAKE CLINICS!

Thursday, April 1st, is the Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics’ “Don’t Be Fooled By Fake Clinics” Day of Action.

Teach students on your campus the truth about the quacks at Crisis Pregnancy Centers by:

- Getting the word out with educational “Don’t Be Fooled” Facts and candy
- Having students sign our petition to stop deceptive advertising and funding for fake clinics
- Screening our investigative videos
- Proposing a "Truth in Advertising" disclaimer on campus if your campus health center refers to CPCs, or campus newspaper accepts ads from CPCs

Check out our “Don’t Be Fooled By Fake Clinics” Action Series for more ideas. Don’t let the quacks of fake clinics fool students on your campus!

Don’t Be Fooled by Fake Clinics Action Series: Proposing Truth in Advertising Policies on Campus

It is very important to establish "Truth in Advertising" policies on campus. The first questions are, does your health center refer students to CPCs and does your local CPC advertise on campus including in the newspaper? Propose that your Campus Health Center stop referring to CPCs. If they continue to do so,request placement of a disclaimer explaining that CPCs are limited-service facilities that do not offer services or referrals to abortions or birth control.

Do the same for advertisements on campus. If they advertise in the newspaper, talk to the editor get them to offer a disclaimer in the ads saying that CPCs do not offer services or referrals to abortion or birth control. Check out our "Establishing Truth in Advertising" Policies in our new CPC kit.

You should also talk to you Student Senate. Find a Pro-Choice member of the Student Government and ask to get a "Truth in Advertising" Resolution passed on campus! Check out the truth in advertising component in our CPC materials!

Photo courtesy of flickr.com/arimoore

Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics Action Series: Burma Shave Signs

Need a clever and creative way to raise the visibility factor of your "Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics" Day of Action April 1? Well, we have a simple and fun solution for you! Create Burma Shave signs!

What in the world are Burma Shave signs, you ask? Well, back in the 50's the Burma shaving cream company launched an ad campaign that consisted of sequential roadside signs, each with a short slogan.

By the end of the sequence, the driver just NEEDED to buy shaving cream! Put this technique to use on campus and you'll have students banging down the door of your next meeting begging to join your campaign!

It's simple:

Get some poster boards, markers and tape.
Pick out a main walkway of campus where the signs will be highly visible and people will read the signs one after another.
Get the proper approval to post signs on campus.

Now for the slogans...We've come up with a few starter ideas for you, following what we like to call the "You wouldn't....so why..." pattern:

Sign 1: You wouldn't want your professor telling you the world is flat.

Sign 2: You wouldn't want your dentist telling you that toothpaste causes cavities.

Sign 3: You wouldn't want a firefighter telling you that a smoke detector won't save your life.

Sign 4: So WHY are FAKE CLINICS [or the name of your local fake clinic] telling women that abortion causes breast cancer, infertility and mental illness?

Sign 5: And WHY are FAKE CLINICS [or the name of your local fake clinic] telling women that condoms won't protect against STIs and HIV?

Sign 6: Don't let FAKE CLINICS [or the name of your local fake clinic] fool you! Join the [name of your club]'s Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics! Come to our meeting on [day] at [time] at [place] or email [contact] to find out how you can help!

These are just some examples of the types of "You Wouldn't..." sayings you could use. Feel free to customize these slogans to make them more relevant and in-tune with your particular campus, student body, and the local fake clinics. Need help with this idea? Contact your FMF Campus Organizer.

Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics Action Series: Educate Your Campus with "Don't Be Fooled" Facts

Fact: No one can resist free candy. So, this April Fools' Day, use this fact to your advantage and join our "Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics" Day of Action by passing out "Don't Be Fooled" Facts, tied to pieces of candy.

On slips of paper, write examples of the kinds of falsehoods that CPCs perpetuate, and then write the FACT to counter those false claims. Staple these to little pieces of candy. You can buy it in bulk and save money.

Here's an example of what your tag would look like:

CPCs say that abortion causes breast cancer. But don't be fooled!

FACT: Scientists disagree. Organizations such as the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, and the American Cancer Society ALL say that no such link exists.

Don't be fooled by the [name of nearby fake clinic] at [location]. Instead, get comprehensive reproductive health care at [name of local comprehensive women's health clinic] at [location].

Or, here's another example.

CPCs say that abortion leads to mental illness. But don't be fooled!

FACT: An eleven-year longitudinal study of 13,000 women found that women who give birth have the same rate of need for psychological treatment as women who have abortions.

Don't be fooled by the [name of nearby fake clinic] at [location]. Instead, get comprehensive reproductive health care at [name of local comprehensive women's health clinic] at [location].


These little snapshots of fake clinic scare tactics will make students on your campus as angry as they make you, so ask them to join your campaign!

In addition to using chocolate to get the word out, you can also make handy (and informative!) table tents to place on all of the dining hall tables. The table tents should identify the CPCs near your campus and warn students about what types of so-called "services" they might receive there.

Grab some candy, paper and a stapler and get the word out!

PS - To identify your local fake clinic, visit www.optionline.org and punch in your zip code. (PLEASE NOTE: This is an anti-choice website with false and misleading information).

Don't Be Fooled By Fake Clinics Action Series: Hold a Film Screening

This April Fools' Day, make sure that women on your campus don't get fooled by fake clinics and put together a simple, yet informational event: a film screening and teach-in.

We have two videos on our website that would teach people who aren't already familiar with CPCs a lot about their deceptive practices. The first is called, "Our Reality: A Look at Crisis Pregnancy Centers" and the second is called, "Crisis Pregnancy Centers: A special Report" Both were produced by FMF in conjunction with Stuart Productions and featured on RH Reality Check.

1. Contact your Student Affairs or Student Activities office and see what the procedures are for screening a film for the public.

2. Reserve a space! Maybe it will be in a classroom, the women's resource center, or an auditorium. See what you need to do to hold the event in this space. Make sure there is a projector that you can hook up to your computer.

3. Make flyers and publicize the event. Make an eye-catching flyer announcing when and where the film screening will be. Post them on campus and hand them out when you are tabling. Make announcements in classrooms and ask professors if they will give their students extra credit for attending the screening.

4. Buy some yummy snacks! Popcorn, chips, licorice, ice cream, pizza. Go wild, budget permitting.

5. Screen the films and then hold a discussion about it. How do people feel about about what they have just seen? What are the inital thoughts? Make sure that you have brushed up on your facts so that you can field any questions. Do people want to take some action on the issue?

6. Formulate a plan. Whats next? Have the people at the screening get involved with the campaign to expose fake clinics. What actions do they want to do after seeing those films? Don't know where to start, check out the rest of our action series!

Our Reality: A Look at Crisis Pregnancy Centers from RH Reality Check on Vimeo.

Don't be Fooled by Fake Clinics Action Series: Photo Campaign

The National Day of Action to Expose Fake Clinics is quickly approaching! On April 1st, "Don't be Fooled by CPCs." What do YOU have planned?

An idea we have for you is to have a photo campaign!

Rally students together! Meet people who want to be involved when you are petitioning for CPCs. Come up with a prompt question that you want to ask everyone. Here are a few suggestions:

1. What do you expect from a women's health clinic?
2.What do you think about CPCs?
3.What services would you like to receive if you were faced with an unintended pregnancy?

Get people to write their answers on a piece of paper and have them tape it to a speech bubble that you've pre-made.

Take their picture!

These photos can be put into a slideshow, or a facebook or flickr album and share it with all of your supporters. Or you can print them out and create a photo collage or feminist quilt that can be displayed on campus or when you are tabling. Or you can also send them to your elected officials urging them to do something about the deceptive advertising practices of CPCs!

Check out the photo blog we at the West Coast office made!

What do you expect from your women's health clinic?

Create a Free Slideshow

Please share your submissions with us! Email them to campusteam@feminist.org.

What more great action ideas? Check out our "Don't be Fooled by CPCs" action series on this blog!