With anti-abortion groups claiming Connecticut House Bill 7070 singles out pro-life pregnancy centers, Attorney General William Tong threw his support Monday behind a bill that would allow his office to initiate an investigation into “deceptive advertising practices” by limited-service pregnancy centers.

Abortion proponents and opponents both acknowledge that most of the state's 25 limited-service pregnancy centers are faith-based and anti-abortion. According to the proposed measure, these centers do not provide referrals to clients for abortions or emergency contraceptives.

Tong, who is pro-choice, said he is not singling out those centers for political reasons. Rather, he said, he's against their allegedly dangerous and deceptive advertisements.

Tong, who gave about 20 minutes of testimony to the Public Health Committee Monday morning in support of the bill, told the Connecticut Law Tribune, “It's dangerous for women to the extent that it dissuades them from taking action to address an unwanted pregnancy and impacts their health care choices.”

Click here to read Tong's full testimony

The deceptive advertisements, Tong said, can be found online, on the sides of buses and on billboards, among other places.

Tong said many of the advertisements “allude to abortion and health care services and pregnancy-related services” when, in fact, the true purpose is often to “provide anti-abortion counseling.”

“They should make it clear and say so,” he said.

If the state Legislature approves the bill this session, the new law would take effect July 1. It would allow the Office of the Attorney General to initiate an investigation against anyone engaging in false or misleading marketing, with the option of fining those centers upward of $500 per incident. Tong said he believes the bill, which still must go through several committees, will have bipartisan support.

Bill O'Brien, vice president of Connecticut Right to Life Corp., denounced the bill.

In an email, O'Brien wrote that the measure “singles out pro-life pregnancy centers, and no other health care agencies, for special treatment regarding advertising because they do not refer for or provide abortion.”

“The bill amounts to a type of rent-seeking by abortion providers by attempting to stifle advertising by pro-life pregnancy centers,” he wrote.

He continued: “The bill simply aims to cut the competition from pregnancy centers, which continue to grow in number, while the number of abortion clinics continues to decline in Connecticut. Abortion clinics simply cannot stand the competition and seek the power of the state to work for them.”

Tong rejected that notion. He said he supports the bill because it targets deceptive advertising, not anti-abortion centers.

“I have no quarrels with anyone who wants to express their anti-abortion views,” Tong said. “They have every right to do so. As attorney general I believe very strongly that people with anti-abortion and pro-life views should express those views in the appropriate manner, and my job is to make sure their rights are honored and respected. To the extent that any center wants to provide anti-abortion counseling, they have to disclose what they are doing and can't deceive people.”