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Facebook & Abortion

Does Facebook ban donations to crisis pregnancy centers?
Screenshot 3:56pm Jan 26

A reader writes:

In response to the horrifying new abortion law in New York I decided that I wanted to donate some money to a pregnancy crisis center there. I decided to do it via Facebook since I have seen in the past that when people donate via Facebook it makes a little announcement, and I thought that this might encourage others to do the same. However when I went to the EMC (Expectant Mother’s Center) Facebook page and clicked “donate”, I noticed that it redirected me to the EMC website instead of allowing me to donate through Facebook. The same thing happened when I clicked “donate” on my local pregnancy crisis center’s Facebook page (Hope Pregnancy Center, Boone) and again when I attempted to donate to Save The Storks.

I wondered why this was, so I did a little experiment and went to the Planned Parenthood page and clicked “donate” -sure enough, this time, Facebook was fully amenable to me donating through their site. Is this just a coincidence or do you think that Facebook is playing Big Brother here?

I ran the same experiment, and got the same results (see the photos accompanying this text). I also went to other CPC Facebook pages, and didn’t seen a donate button.

Can any of you explain what’s going on? Is there a legitimate explanation for this, or is Facebook playing dirty pool?

From what I can tell, Facebook requires those seeking donations through its services to be registered as a nonprofit. Expectant Mother Care is registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. So is Hope Pregnancy Center. Why would Facebook deny them access to its donation service, if not because it disapproves of their cause? It is true that EMC was cited by a city authority last year for misleading clients, but it still maintains its nonprofit status, and besides, Hope Pregnancy Center has not been cited.

I’m not accusing Facebook (yet); I just want to know what’s going on. Do you know?

3:59 pm 1/26
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