FemDems, the Women’s Issues Committee of the University’s chapter of College Democrats, is working to implement legislation in Ann Arbor that would require pregnancy centers that don’t offer or make referrals for abortions or birth control services to post disclaimer signs.

The potential legislation is modeled after a city council bill that passed in Baltimore, Md. last year on Nov. 23. 2009. The new law requires the disclaimer signs to be conspicuously posted in the waiting rooms of limited-service pregnancy centers and to be easily readable and written in both English and Spanish, according to the bill.

LSA sophomore Brendan Campbell, co-chair of the FemDems, said the group will soon begin working with the Ann Arbor City Council to try and develop a similar bill. Eventually the group would like to see the legislation move on to Washtenaw County and, later, the entire state, so that all women in Michigan will be provided with accurate information, he said.

“The problem is that without these signs women can go into these pregnancy centers thinking that they offer a full range of options when in fact they don’t,” Campbell said. “It’s not even about preventing the operation or the existence of these centers, so much as it’s providing truth in advertising and providing full information about what the centers provide.”

Campbell also said this is an issue that goes beyond the pro-life and pro-choice debate and is really more about enabling women to evaluate their options by having access to more accurate information.

“It comes down to that this isn’t a pro-life–pro-choice issue or anything like that. It really is all about just providing more information to women and empowering women to make decisions for themselves,” he said.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the Democratic president of the Baltimore City Council and the lead sponsor of the bill in Baltimore, said the bill is crucial in making sure that women have knowledge of the kinds of services a pregnancy center offers and doesn’t offer.

“I’m pleased that my City Council colleagues acted to secure women’s access to accurate and safe medical information in Baltimore city,” Rawlings-Blake said.

Though the new law — which Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who submitted her resignation yesterday after being convicted last month of embezzling gift cards meant for the needy for personal use, signed Dec. 4, 2009 and which took effect Jan. 2 — mandates that all pregnancy clinics display the signs, Rawlings-Blake said the new requirement will in no way hinder the practices of the clinics.

“This new law will not hamper the work of non-profit organizations that assist future mothers,” Rawlings-Blake said. “I’m honored to have the support of many experts in the public health community for this effort to protect women’s access to accurate health information.”

LSA sophomore Kaitlin Henry and LSA freshman Evan Nichols wrote a blog post Dec. 10 on the University College Democrats blog that described their experience going to Arbor Vitae Women’s Center — a nonprofit clinic located next to the ground floor of Starbucks on State Street — as an undercover couple seeking birth control advice.

While they were at the center, they had to indicate their religious affiliation on consent forms and were asked about their marital status, they wrote in the post called, “FemDems Covert Op: Local CPC Exposed.” These questions, they wrote, show the clinic demonstrates a pro-life bias.

According to the blog, Henry was also shown various birth control methods though the employee emphasized natural family planning, which is considered a form of birth control in which the couple avoids copulation when the woman is ovulating.

“We witnessed firsthand that Arbor Vitae has the bias that defines crisis pregnancy centers,” they wrote in the blog.