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Supporters of a Montgomery County Council bill say it will promote public disclosure at pregnancy centers that don't offer medical services, but anti-abortion groups say the measure is more for political purposes.

The legislation, introduced Tuesday by Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda, would require most "limited service pregnancy centers" in the county to post disclaimers that the information they provide to clients is not medical advice. The information also does not establish a doctor-patient relationship.

The bill also requires centers to tell a client to consult with a health care provider before making decisions regarding her pregnancy.

Limited service centers do not provide abortions or advise women to seek abortions. The one such center excluded from the bill would be the Rockville Pregnancy Center, which is a licensed medical clinic.

A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1.

Gail Tierney, executive director of the Rockville Pregnancy Center, called the legislation "ludicrous."

"Nobody advertises what they don't provide," Tierney said. "You advertise what you do provide."

The three centers that would be affected are Birthright of Montgomery County and Centro Tepeyac, both in Silver Spring, and Shady Grove Pregnancy Center in Gaithersburg.

Calls to Centro Tepeyac and Shady Grove were not returned.

Birthright Executive Director Carole Buchanan said the requirement is meant to "kill the message" of centers like hers.

"It's a full-fledged attack," she said.

Tierney said women at her center are advised that they cannot receive an abortion there. They also are advised that abortion is one option for them, along with keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption.

"We ask them, ‘Since you're considering abortion would you like to know about the techniques and the risks for your stage of pregnancy?' We tell them. And it's up to them," Tierney said.

Clients already know they cannot get an abortion at the Rockville center, she said.

"Our goal is education," she said. "I can't talk anyone into or out of anything. We don't tie them up and keep them in a room and say they can't come out until that baby is born. You can't force anyone to do anything they don't want to do."

Jeff Meister, director of administration and legislation at Maryland Right to Life Inc., said the Montgomery County legislation targets "nonprofit charities." Some centers, including the Rockville center, offer their services for free and operate largely on private and faith-based donations.

"This is really part of a larger political initiative on the part of a few pro-abortion lobbying groups," Meister said. "If their goal is to provide full disclosure of pregnancy-related services, then it should apply across the board, but there's no need for that."

Trachtenberg's legislation is supported by Planned Parenthood groups, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland and others.

Co-sponsors of the bill include Council Vice President Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac and council members Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring; Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring; Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park; Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park; and George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park.

NARAL Executive Director Jennifer Blasdell said the disclaimers would ensure that women visiting limited service pregnancy centers in Montgomery County are properly informed about the center they are in and guarded against misinformation.

She cited a NARAL investigation in 2008 that found misinformation was given at all four of Montgomery County's limited service pregnancy centers.

The report states that at Centro Tepeyac a woman was told that birth control can "mess with your body" and it would be difficult to become pregnant again after undergoing an abortion. The report adds that a woman at Birthright was told that condoms do not work and are not safe.

However, Tierney said the report was flawed and that data from her center shows that contraception often does fail.

"You can't necessarily depend on birth control methods to prevent a pregnancy," she said.

Buchanan said employees at Birthright offer "100 percent correct information that has been vetted by lawyers."

She said her clients, many of whom are low-income women, deserve to have all of the information before making a decision about ending a pregnancy.

"They say they want a woman to choose," Buchanan said of pro-choice advocates. "But they don't want them to choose us."

At the Rockville center, Tierney's staff advises married women to talk to their doctors about birth control and promotes abstinence among unmarried women.

The pregnancy centers that do not provide abortions — and are at the center of Trachtenberg's legislation — do not receive county funds, said Mary Anderson, a county spokeswoman.

The Baltimore City Council is considering a bill similar to Trachtenberg's, and another failed to generate much traction when it was introduced to the Maryland General Assembly in 2008.