Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was blasted for her comment about crisis pregnancy centers.
Warren told reporters, “In Massachusetts right now, those crisis pregnancy centers that are there to fool people who are looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber true abortion clinics by 3 to 1.”
She added, “We need to shut them down here in Massachusetts, and we need to shut them down all around the country. You should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that.”
Watch her comments below:
Warren: “Crisis pregnancy centers that are there to fool people looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber abortion clinics by 3-1. We need to shut them down all around the country.”
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 12, 2022
pic.twitter.com/Sm6XjnGUX7
Warren’s comments sparked strong reactions from critics on Twitter:
I guarantee Elizabeth Warren has never spoken to a crisis pregnancy center employee or volunteer, nor has she spoken to a woman who was helped at one. pic.twitter.com/OqWYrMoR3P
— Jeremiah Poff (@JJ_Poff) July 12, 2022
Not gonna sugar coat this. It’s evil. If I knew nothing about Elizabeth Warren but the lies she tells about pregnancy centers I’d know enough. https://t.co/vvX5reruQh
— Casey Mattox (@CaseyMattox_) July 12, 2022
This is out of control irresponsible and wrong @SenWarren — have you ever met anyone affiliated with a center? You are being so destructive right now. https://t.co/NF2bUtBIXF https://t.co/huHwciZct5
— ErickaAndersen | Writer (@ErickaAndersen) July 12, 2022
Elizabeth Warren does not support women healthcare. https://t.co/VY64fvPpBZ
— Mercedes Schlapp (@mercedesschlapp) July 13, 2022
Elizabeth Warren wants to shut down centers that literally exist to give pregnant women an option besides abortion https://t.co/p5a1EJzAjQ
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) July 12, 2022
Psychotic & sick. Warren wants to ensure maximum lethality against unborn babies. The left has blood lust for vulnerable infants. https://t.co/N3r3QmbOkw
— Joe Kent for WA-3 (@joekent16jan19) July 12, 2022
Warren’s comments came the same day that a director of a crisis pregnancy center in California shared measures the organization is taking amid recent attacks.
“Pregnancy care centers from coast to coast are being targeted for violent assaults of vandalism, and hateful attacks online and in the media,” Heidi Matzke, the director of the Alternatives Pregnancy Center in California, said during a Senate hearing.
She added, “Just last week… a man approached our care center with an armed machete.”
Matzke explained centers have been “forced to hire 24-hour on site security. We have had to reinforce doors and bullet-proof our walls.”
She continued, “We’ve had to paint our building with anti-graffiti coating. We’ve added cameras, armed our staff with pepper spray and stopped running our mobile clinic because of threats of violence.”
According to Matzke, the amount of money “that we’ve had to spend so we can protect ourselves just so we can offer free services to women is unbelievable.”
Last month, House Republicans wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the Department of Justice to investigate incidents of vandalism and attacks at anti-abortion pregnancy centers as domestic terrorism.
“The department has a clear duty to pursue these recent attacks as instances of domestic terrorism, and it is the responsibility of the National Security Division to protect the United States from threats to our national security by seeking justice through law,” the letter stated.