Well, okay, not in so many words, although that would be pretty funny if they did. No, I'm talking about the South Dakota law that passed a few months ago mandating that all people seeking abortion care must visit a CPC first (because it's not enough to require doctors to read from a prepared anti-abortion script to every patient, no - it has to involve a forced visit to a whole "business" dedicated to lies, guilt, manipulation, shaming, and harassment! That's totally the definition of "informed consent"). Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed suit against the law, of course, arguing that it's an unconstitutional violation of the patient's right to privacy and that it constitutes "compelled speech", infringing against the First Amendment rights of doctors and patients.
Two CPCs in South Dakota have just been given the okay by a federal judge to join in the lawsuit, by arguing that "Because there are about 700 abortions performed in South Dakota annually, ... they could be denied access to that many clients by Planned Parenthood's lawsuit."
Wait, so...they are saying that, without a law forcing people to patronize their establishment, they will lose access to all of those seven hundred potential clients?
I guess this means they know perfectly well that nobody chooses of their own free will to go to a CPC - they have to be misdirected, waylaid, lied to, or, if all else fails, legally coerced. Whether they want to admit it or not, their argument shows that they know it.
(That must be a pretty sweet business model to have, though. None of that faffing about with "provide a service people want/need for a price they can afford and are willing to pay", just "convince lawmakers to write a law forcing people to patronize your establishment," and bam! Instant clientele!)
