Seeking to stem what they call misleading advertising, San Francisco officials on Tuesday began a two-pronged attack on “crisis pregnancy centers,” which are billed as places for pregnant women to get advice, but often use counseling to discourage abortions.

The first element was a bill introduced to the city’s Board of Supervisors that would make it illegal for such centers to advertise falsely about their pregnancy-related services, something already more broadly covered by a state law barring deceptive advertising. But the bill’s author, Malia Cohen, said the law was necessary to protect low-income women who are drawn into the centers, which often offer free services.

“As a city, we have a responsibility to protect our most vulnerable residents,” said Ms. Cohen, who accused the centers of pushing “anti-abortion propaganda and mistruths on unsuspecting women.”

At the same time, Dennis Herrera, the San Francisco city attorney, said his office had written to a local center, First Resort, about its advertisements, which he said “appear to be designed to confuse or mislead consumers.” In a letter to the center’s chief executive, Shari Plunkett, Mr. Herrera asked that the ads be corrected to make clear that the center does not perform abortions or make referrals for them.

Mr. Herrera, a Democrat and a candidate for mayor, was also explicit in his distaste for the centers, calling them “right wing, politically motivated” institutions whose mission was “to dissuade women from seeking their constitutionally protected rights.”

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