Two Georgia congressmen are criticizing the University of Georgia for allegedly using university resources to fund a directory of crisis pregnancy centers.
Representatives Andrew Clyde and Jody Hice both represent parts of Northeast Georgia, including Athens. The two say in a letter to UGA President Jere Morehead that a website created by two UGA faculty members could make it easier for crisis pregnancy centers to be targeted for violence, calling the website “clearly nothing more than pro-abortion activism masquerading as academic research.”
The Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that supports reproductive rights, defines crisis pregnancy centers as “organizations that provide counseling and other prenatal services from an antiabortion (prolife) perspective.”
The website, CPC Map, created by UGA professors Drs. Andrea Swartzendruber and Danielle Lambert, labels CPCs as “fake abortion centers.” According to CPC Map, CPCs are nonprofit organizations designed to prevent women from obtaining abortions. The directory compiles a national list of these organizations.
UGA officials said on Friday that Morehead hadn’t read the congressmen’s letter. A statement from the UGA College of Public Health said that the site, created by the two College of Public Health professors is intended to, “promote academic research and increase public awareness about crisis pregnancy centers,” and that the authors of the site condemn threats and violence against crisis pregnancy centers. The statement also says that some centers have reached out to the site’s authors to update their information.
