FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2026

Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Campaign for Accountability (CfA) submitted a complaint to New York Attorney General Letitia James, urging her to investigate potential violations by so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs). The complaint alleges that at least five New York CPCs’ advertising practices and diagnostic ultrasound services may violate state unauthorized practice of medicine or deceptive advertising laws.

CfA compiled a list of 100 CPCs across 49 states—including multiple in New York—that advertise their free ultrasound services can help women “rule out” a dangerous ectopic pregnancy. Yet this diagnosis can legally only be made by a properly licensed medical professional, and the CPC-support organization Heartbeat International publicly acknowledged that many centers lack doctors available to review ultrasound scans within the first 24 hours. As a result, some women may leave CPC appointments with the reassurance of a viable pregnancy, delivered to them by a staff member not qualified to give it.

Read CfA’s Letter.

CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “Misleading women into believing they are receiving a diagnosis from a qualified professional when they are not is a serious breach of trust—and the law. We urge the Attorney General to investigate whether the centers luring women in by offering medical peace of mind are properly staffed to legally deliver on that promise.”

Cases of women receiving incorrect diagnoses from unqualified CPC staffers have been well-documented. In Texas, a woman was sent home from a CPC appointment with the reassurance that her pregnancy was viable. Days later, she was rushed into emergency surgery after discovering it was ectopic. In Massachusetts, a woman sued a CPC whose unqualified staffer similarly failed to detect her ectopic pregnancy, which ruptured days later. After a judge declined to dismiss the case, the CPC settled.

Following the settlement, a representative for the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) was recorded at a 2025 CPC conference advising member centers not to advertise the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies on their websites, saying, “I do not want to see on any website or advertising is, ‘Come to us and we’ll rule out an ectopic.’” Yet, a CfA search found 100 CPCs across 49 states still using this exact “rule out” language in their ultrasound services advertising in 2026.

CfA’s letter to the New York Attorney General also highlights other CPCs that, while not using the exact “rule out an ectopic” language that NIFLA warned against, still make equivalent promises to “confirm” a “viable” or “intrauterine” pregnancy. The letter argues that the determination of a viable pregnancy is no less a diagnosis and should only be delivered by a medical professional properly licensed to give diagnoses.

Practicing medicine without a license or aiding and abetting an unlicensed person to practice medicine is a crime under New York law. CPCs may also be violating deceptive advertising laws if they are marketing their supposed ability to diagnose ectopic pregnancies while knowing that they do not have licensed doctors able to review those scans in a timely manner.

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.