Mexico has sued Google after the tech giant updated its maps to reflect a U.S. House resolution attempting to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. In response, President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken legal action over this violation of Mexico’s sovereign rights. What might seem like a frivolous renaming stunt is actually part of a broader pattern: a refusal to face reality, and a habit of using language to distort power.
Since we’re renaming things, let’s start with so-called “Crisis Pregnancy Centers.” Let’s call them what they are: Fake Clinics.
I work in Communications with Amplify Georgia Collaborative, where I’ve helped gather stories from Georgians harmed by these fake clinics. I’ve listened as people described being misled, delayed, or shamed when they were most fearful and in need of real support. Through organizing, polling, and narrative work across the state, I’ve seen firsthand how disinformation and disinvestment in real care deepen health inequities and undermine reproductive freedom.
Fake clinics are not about care. They are disinformation hubs that receive funding while manipulating people—especially marginalized communities—out of making informed decisions about their pregnancies. They typically lack medically trained staff, do not provide abortion services, and rarely offer real prenatal or postpartum care, or accurate medical advice. Instead, they employ shame, use delay tactics, and provide medically inaccurate information.
The Women’s Law Project highlights how fake clinics specifically target low-income pregnant people, Black women, and teenagers to block access to abortion and contraception, intentional targeting that exacerbates existing health disparities in these communities. This isn’t just a problem for Georgia or even the South.
There isn’t a single state in the country that is free from fake clinics. Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, California, and Ohio all have extensive networks of fake clinics that far outnumber legitimate abortion providers and often receive government funding.
In Georgia alone, over $2 million annually in public money has been funneled into fake clinics—money that could have supported real health care, child care, home visits for new parents, or housing assistance. Instead, it’s funding lies and coercion. In fact, Georgia has at least five fake clinics for every one real abortion provider. That imbalance is intentional and dangerous.
We know this not just from policy reports, but from real people. One community member shared how a fake clinic told her she was too far along to get an ultrasound, sent her on her way, and left her feeling hopeless. Another was told that abortion would cause infertility. These aren’t one-off stories. They are happening every day, all across the country.
Meanwhile, Georgians are dying because of delayed or denied pregnancy care. Just ask the families of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, two women who died from preventable pregnancy complications. Their deaths, detailed by ProPublica, underscore the lethal consequences of a system more focused on control than care. What could have changed the outcome? Real, accessible medical care, not manipulation dressed in a white coat.
These state-sponsored cravings for control harm more than just pregnant people. Fake clinics don’t just spread lies, they divert public resources, promote a narrow religious ideology, and normalize government intrusion into the most personal decisions we make. The same politicians who funnel millions into these fraud centers also push for surveillance, over-policing, and the criminalization of poverty. It’s all part of the same playbook: control bodies, limit choices, and concentrate power.
To be clear, yes, fake clinics can give you a pregnancy test. So can the dollar store. So can a real clinic. So can your local RJ organizer, campus clinic, or community health center. But only some of those will treat you like someone who deserves full, dignified, life-affirming care.
This isn’t just about renaming things. It’s about reclaiming power. Fake clinics are designed to confuse, delay, and dominate. When politicians rename oceans or position disinformation campaigns as health infrastructure, they’re laying the groundwork for authoritarianism.
We deserve better. We deserve truth, care, and investment in our futures, not fraudulent care and lies.
Let’s call fake clinics what they are and shut them down.
About the Author: Crystal E. Monds is a Public Voices fellow of the OpEd Project in partnership with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, and the Every Page Foundation, as well as the Communications and Digital Media Coordinator at Amplify Georgia Collaborative.
