When the CHCs are Already Good Enough or Better than the PP Center
See Researching the CHCs for questions to help compare services and facilities, to figure out if a CHC is a good one to send people to.
Clip: The CHC is vetted and good.
If you have other ideas or can make improvements to any of the ideas below, send comments to grassrootsdefunding@consistent-life.org or call project coordinator Rachel MacNair at 816-753-2057.
On this topic, see our blog post on The Power of the Promo Card. We’re eager to get more posts from local activists as local activists gain experience to share on successes, things that didn’t work so well, and lessons learned.
Differing strategies
Actions that Take Only a Few People
On much of the paper to pass out, it’s likely to be more effective with young people to put a QR code for the CHC or chain of CHCs, so they can whip out their smart phones, aim the QR reader, and the web page pops up on their phone, right there on the spot. To make a QR code, you only need to put a web address in at QR Code Monkey. You can then copy and paste the code into the flyer.
Leafletting in Public Places
If the CHC already has brochures and is happy to have you as volunteers to help spread them, this is ideal. Those won’t mention PP, but then, we don’t want to advertise for PP.
Leaflets or flyers can be created to inform people about any advantages specific CHCs have over PP (cost, convenience, etc.). Some leaflets can be designed for passing out at schools or other locations where people who might go to PP congregate.
However, do remember the CHCs are minding their own business and may have no interest in being seen as opposing PP themselves. The wording needs to be careful (and this is why using their own brochures may be better).
Leafletting at a PP Center
Leaflets can be designed to pass out to women entering specific PP facilities with their nearby CHCs. These leaflets would include information on how the CHC is better and directions on how to easily get there.
Perhaps sidewalk advocates could get more people to come out and participate at PP, since this could be done on non-abortion days or only-referring locations. Letting someone going into PP know there’s a better deal somewhere else is a lot easier to do, and so more people may be willing to do it.
More participants (50 seconds)
Advertising
Advertising for a nearby CHC, such as billboards, can go near the PP Center, if the CHC is amenable to having them placed in that specific spot.
Anywhere the local PP center advertises itself is a good spot to look at. For example, PP sometimes advertises itself with door hangers at apartment buildings. We can do the same.
Referrals
Figure out where the large flows of referrals to PP come from. Possibilities include school-based clinics, college and university health centers, and school counselors.
Will some friendly intervening at those sources get them to refer elsewhere? Some are obstinately pro-PP, and there’s probably not much we can do. But others only need to be made aware of how much better another place is. CHCs commonly have lower name recognition or a low advertising budget.
If the referring sources are medical facilities, there may be ways to convince them to do the services themselves instead.
For mammograms (see our full page), PP refers women elsewhere. Not all places that refer to PP are aware of this. The sources originally making a referral would probably prefer to directly refer women to the facility PP refers them to, and that would be an easy way to get women out of PP’s orbit.
Be sure your local Pregnancy Help Centers have the information, so they can make referrals.
When PP has Documented Medical-Quality Problems
For the Planned Parenthood centers (or any other abortion centers), you can access health violation documents at Check My Clinic; when specific PP centers have specific documents, we’ve linked to them under their listings. You may want to check that the alternative doesn’t have the same problems as part of vetting them. Malpractice suits and consumer ratings of doctors can also be compared.
One method of spreading the word on documented problems is explained by Pam Whitehead, project manager of Check My Clniic, with resources they have available:
Google and Yelp Reviews
CHCs and other PP alternatives:
For Google reviews, googling the name and location of a facility should bring up a box to the right of the list with much information, and a link to Google reviews for that location near the top.
Yelp reviews can be posted by going to www.yelp.com, then searching the name of the facility (though not all facilities currently have pages).
If you know people who’ve used the CHC’s services, you can encourage them to post reviews. Positive ones will make people more likely to go there, and negative ones might offer a critique that’s useful feedback to the CHC for improving itself.
PP centers:
If you know anyone who’s had a negative experience at a PP Center, you can encourage her or him to post a review about that – a genuine review of someone reporting actual experience. This could be a crucial place to get the word out so more people are forewarned.
If there are already many negative reviews there, you could make a flyer with a QR code to the page that has them, or have the page handy on your phone or tablet, or link to it on social media, to show to people who are moving toward patronizing a PP center.
Consumer Guide (Large Cities)
For those PP centers that have a large number of CHCs nearby, a consumer guide can offer information about which ones are better or worse on specific things. If PP compares poorly in an objective way (using strict accuracy, of course), then a consumer guide may be a good way to get that across.
For a paper version, once information is gathered, if you don’t have someone local that can do professional-looking design for it, we may be able to help with that (check with grassrootsdefunding@consistent-life.org or call project coordinator Rachel MacNair at 816-753-2057).
In current times, making that information into an app or otherwise putting it online is likely to be crucial.
Overall: Importance of Strict Accuracy
Having strict accuracy – no possibility of exaggeration, or even wording that looks like it might be an exaggeration – is crucial in all efforts. In addition to credibility and ethics, PP often uses charges of inaccuracy as its first line of attack, and “finds” inaccuracies whether they’re actually there or not. Of course, your best defense – your only defense – is that accuracy is strictly maintained.
State or Local Governments
Are there actions that can make the CHCs better known or otherwise appealing? Can the state or county or city do things to better publicize them?
Foundation Grants
Foundations can also provide resources for publicizing. Foundations with pro-life sympathies may fund coupons for women to get lower cost or no-cost care at the CHC so they would be more inclined to go there; this would take some negotiating.