What Are the Policies and Practices of Members of the Pro-Life Marketing Ethics Council?
What Can I Expect From a PLMEC Vendor?
The mission of the board and members of the Pro-Life Marketing Ethics Council (PLMEC) is to help pregnancy centers and pro-life organizations avoid black hat and unethical tactics or language, and to promote best practices to reach women considering abortion and save more lives.
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The PLMEC is dedicated to upholding our core values, rooted in prayer and biblical principles, and follows up-to-date pro-life research, only allowing the entry of Christ-centered vendors dedicated to doing the same.
Our goal is to help centers navigate the ever-changing world of online marketing and how they can protect themselves, have effective, honest marketing, and increase their impact.
Approach to Services
PLMEC vendors will never promote or push a service or method that is not in line with pro-life research, best practices, and up-to-date data just to add to their bottom line. The services offered by PLMEC vendors focus primarily on the hierarchy of marketing:
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Brand - a logo and brand messaging in line with research and designed to reach abortion-minded women.
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Google - website, SEO, and paid search ads (note: individual campaigns may not be possible in some areas).
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Brand awareness advertising - social media ads and other forms of onlinePrint, media, and other traditional methods of on-the-ground client marketing, particularly for college students.
PLMEC vendors pledge to be transparent and honest about what is covered and what is not so you can make informed choices about your marketing.
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Are services month-to-month or under contract? Will I have full access to campaigns? Ask questions up front before you move forward.
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Will I rent or own my website? It’s not unethical to rent a website (not be able to keep it if you move on), but it is unethical to hide the fact.
SEO, Websites, and Advertising
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PLMEC vendors do not engage in keyword stuffing, content scraping, duplication, backlink farms, or other similar black hat SEO tactics that can harm a center’s online reputation.
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Whether due to a lack of data or proven poor performance, PLMEC vendors do not recommend traditional geofencing and AI chats.
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PLMEC vendors do not engage in providing reviews from dummy accounts.
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The policy of the PLMEC is to have at least two ways that women can contact you on a website or landing page.
Lead Management and Reporting
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PLMEC vendors do not present clicks, impressions, or traffic as conversions, leads, or contacts.
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PLMEC vendors pledge to never overinflate data and to provide honest and transparent metrics and reporting.
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The PLMEC recommends tracking true conversions, responding quickly to requests, and tracking schedule rates, no-show rates, and other metrics that can enhance your appointments and lives saved.
Brand and Messaging
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PLMEC vendors follow the research from national leaders like the Vitae Foundation and Save the Storks.
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In client-facing marketing, messaging, images, and branding should go through the filter of “Would this prevent an abortion-minded woman from contacting us?”. Content and designs should be woman-focused, medically accurate, and in align with the demographics of a specific area.
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The PLMEC does not promote mixing donor and client messaging.
AI and Technology
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As technology changes, PLMEC vendors are devoted to staying up-to-date and using a safe and ethical approach to AI.
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We do not promote substituting AI over human interaction or contact, including lead management systems, or AI-written material over personally vetted and voiced content. The PLMEC only endorses best practices. While there are a lot of uses for AI, there is very little data on the ROI of AI tools. As new data and research emerge, AI best practices may change.
What is the Difference Between a Best Practice and a Black Hat Policy?
Best Practices and Policies
of PLMEC Vendors
Black Hat Policies | Our “Never” List
This can result in a PLMEC vendor terminating a partnership.
PLMEC vendors do not use these terms in ads, headlines, or list services such as:
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Abortion consultation, abortion screening, abortion exam, or any similar phrase.
Instead, we recommend the use of these terms for abortion information services similar to the following:
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Abortion information
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Nurse consultations
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Education on abortion
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Options consultations
PLMEC vendors will never intentionally link to an abortion provider, funder, or a site that promotes abortion with a “clinic finder” or similar approach
The policy of the PLMEC is to place disclaimers (does not provide or refer for abortion services) on websites and landing pages that pertain to abortion.
PLMEC vendors do not intentionally give inaccurate medical or legal information with the goal of tricking or deceiving an abortion-minded woman or potential client. PLMEC vendors aim to adhere to all known legal and medical requirements per state.
PLMEC vendors do not write campaigns with false or misleading headlines. This includes standalone “abortion” “abortion clinic” “abortion pill” headlines without including the word(s) “education” “information” “options” “answer” or something similar.
PLMEC vendors do not turn on automatic assets in Google Ads.
PLMEC members pledge to never use misleading abortion terms that lead a potential client to think they are going to receive an abortion or access to an abortion at the center. This can include abortion consultation or abortion exam or alluding to the cost or price of an abortion at the pregnancy center. While information on cost is not a black practice, there should be clear information about what a center does or does not provide.
Backlinks to an abortion provider, funder, or a site that promotes abortion with a “clinic finder” or similar approach are black hat practices.
​Lying to or misleading women or potential clients on the phone (text or chat) by making them think they are getting an abortion at the center should never be done by a pregnancy center marketing company or pro-life organization.
Intentionally giving inaccurate medical or legal consultations (i.e., telling women an ultrasound is required in their state when it is not) is never allowed.
Intentionally using misleading or false headlines like:
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Abortion Clinic Locations, Self-Managed
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Abortion Guide; Free Abortion Pills
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Abortion Clinic Near Me, Misoprostol
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(Abortion Pills), At-Home Abortions
would be immediately banned from the PLMEC and would prevent a pregnancy center marketing company from becoming a member.
Some companies do not intend to be misleading in their headlines, but do not know how to turn off specific settings that auto-write headlines or use AI to create campaigns.
Do All PLMEC Vendors Operate the Same?
While the members of the PLMEC agree to the above policies and best practices, and follow the research from the Vitae Foundation, Save the Storks, and the PLMEC’s own pregnancy center marketing studies and surveys, they each can have their own unique approaches to advertising, content and design creation, reporting, branding messaging and language, and tracking.
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If you are looking for a vendor that aligns with your values, connect with each member who offers the services you are looking for to hear from their team.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to pregnancy center marketing. Contact us today to find the vendor that is right for you.