Even in blue California, attempts to regulate controversial antiabortion centers continue to fail
ROSEVILLE, Calif. — At Sierra Pregnancy and Health, Executive Director Cary Wilcox beams with pride holding a plastic model of what will soon be a new mobile clinic thanks to a flood of donations after its "biggest year ever."
Outside the nondescript nonprofit just 20 miles from the California capital, a sign advertises "abortion pill reversal" — a practice involving the hormone progesterone that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists deems "unethical" and "not supported by science."
The facility is licensed by the California Department of Public Health as a community clinic but has been flagged as a "crisis pregnancy center" — an industry long accused of misleading women about their services in order to steer them away from abortion.
The Roseville-based center provides free pregnancy tests and first-trimester ultrasounds advertised as part of "pre-abortion screenings" but does not offer abortions or help women get them. Its medical staff includes unpaid retired doctors and nurses who volunteer their time, Wilcox said.
A watercolor painting of a wave hangs above a couch in the consultation room, where clients are warned of abortion-related grief and given pamphlets that ask "is God listening?" A magazine the clinic hands out cites research linking abortion to breast cancer that has been
