BALTIMORE (CNS) -- A proposal requiring Baltimore pregnancy support centers to post a disclaimer telling clients they do not provide abortion or contraceptive services is harassment of the pro-life centers, say Catholic leaders.

Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien and other critics of the measure said abortion clinics are not being similarly required to list all the services they don't provide, such as infant clothes, formula and parenting classes.

The president of the Baltimore City Council, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and 10 other members are sponsoring the bill, which if passed would levy a fine of $500 per day on centers that do not comply with the requirement.

In an Oct. 16 letter to Rawlings-Blake, Archbishop O'Brien said the bill targets nonprofit organizations whose mission is to help women carry pregnancies to term. He said it is "well-known" that pregnancy support centers are exclusively focused on assisting women in their choice for childbirth, and do not provide abortions or contraception.

"To fine a center $500 for not posting a sign that states as much is nothing short of harassment," Archbishop O'Brien said, "especially when nothing in a pregnancy support center's Yellow-Page advertisements or Web pages would lead a woman to believe these centers provide abortions or abortion-related services."

Ryan O'Doherty, Rawlings-Blake's director of policy and communications, said the City Council president was unavailable for an interview with The Catholic Review, Baltimore's archdiocesan newspaper. He provided a copy of Rawlings-Blake's Oct. 16 letter responding to the archbishop.

"I believe this measure is needed to secure women's access to accurate and safe medical information," Rawlings-Blake wrote, adding that "simple compliance" with the ordinance ensures no penalties or fines.

"Of course, I support efforts by nonprofit organizations to assist future mothers," she said. "This ordinance does nothing to hamper those efforts."

In his letter, however, Archbishop O'Brien said the legislation unfairly singles out pro-life centers.

"The bill does not on the other hand seek to fine abortion clinics for not posting a list of services they do not provide (e.g., parenting classes, maternity and infant clothes, formula)," he said.

The archbishop said the Archdiocese of Baltimore provides $100,000 annually to pregnancy resource centers "because we believe pregnant women seeking the assistance they provide should get it, and because we feel the help they provide these women will lead to safer pregnancies and healthier babies. This legislation threatens both of these goals."

The Baltimore bill is similar to one promoted by Planned Parenthood in the 2008 session of the Maryland General Assembly. That bill, which never made it out of committee, would have required crisis pregnancy centers to state that they are not required to give "factual information."

Nancy Paltell, associate director for the respect-life office of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said Planned Parenthood also is behind the Baltimore effort. She believes the bill is a steppingstone to passing even more onerous measures against crisis pregnancy centers.

"We are providing community services that the city doesn't provide and now they're going to harass us for it," she said. "We're saving the city money, but does the city give one dime to these pregnancy centers? No."

Paltell noted that pregnancy resource centers are regulated by all the laws which govern charities, including anti-fraud measures. Paltell and Archbishop O'Brien said local government agencies, churches and community organizations refer women to the centers.

"If pregnancy resource centers were not legitimate, caring nonprofit organizations that provide emotional, material and practical assistance to pregnant and parenting women, it's unlikely that any of these entities would refer clients to them," Archbishop O'Brien wrote in his letter.

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