Mass Live | Worcester woman’s lawsuit against Clearway Clinic can go forward, report says

By Ryan Mancini

Originally Published on MassLive.com

A judge ruled that a lawsuit filed by a Worcester woman against a local pregnancy crisis center can move forward, NBC 10 Boston reported.

The class action suit against Clearway Clinic seeking “relief” in Worcester Superior Court was filed on June 22. The lawsuit claims that a missed diagnosis at the center led to a life-threatening incident that required her to have invasive emergency surgery, according to court records.

Although Clearway Clinic asked the judge to throw out the case, this request was denied, NBC wrote.

“This is a significant decision because it opens the way to bringing false advertising and misleading advertising claims to so-called crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts,” attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan told NBC.

In the suit, the woman claims she made an appointment at Clearway Clinic on Shrewsbury Street after looking up ultrasound services online. At her October 2022 appointment, she was told she had a viable pregnancy, according to a press statement from Reproductive Equity Now, an organization that advocates for protection and expansion of “abortion access and reproductive equity for everyone,” according to its website.

One month later, the woman was rushed to the emergency room after she said she felt a sharp and shooting pain. She was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured and caused internal hemorrhaging that required surgery. The surgery resulted in the removal of one of her fallopian tubes, according to a statement from Reproductive Equity Now.

The nurse at Clearway Clinic who performed the ultrasound a month before the rupture did not conduct “sufficient medical measures to assure [the woman] that her pregnancy was in utero and thus viable,” the lawsuit said.

Clearway Clinic has been dubbed a crisis pregnancy center and is on Reproductive Equity Now’s list of “fake women’s health centers.” Crisis pregnancy centers often set themselves up near abortion clinics and are sometimes funded by organizations “that oppose abortion in any and all circumstances,” Reproductive Equity Now’s website reads.

“They do operate from a pro-life perspective,” Sam Whiting from the Massachusetts Family Institute told NBC. “One of their main goals is to give women the resources they need to choose life for their children.”

“We are transparent and clear about all our services for women and their families,” Clearway Clinic said to the news station in a statement. “Last year alone, we helped 596 women, all at no charge, with pregnancy tests, clothing, counseling, and baby items. We are honored to be a contributing center to our community and to help those who are facing unplanned or unexpected pregnancies.”