Pennsylvania Ends Three-Decade Funding for Anti-Abortion Counseling Centers
Democratic and Republican legislators in Pennsylvania have authorized millions of taxpayer cash for an anti-abortion campaign for almost 30 years. As the organization that distributes those monies and other organizations like it gain notoriety since the Roe v. Wade decision, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro is now planning to terminate the contract.
The state of Pennsylvania intends to terminate its long-standing agreement with the nonprofit Real Alternatives on December 31. Real Alternatives was the first group in the country to receive sizable state and federal funds to support anti-abortion counseling facilities.
Several Pennsylvania organizations, including Catholic Charities, anti-abortion counseling centers, and maternity homes—which offer support and shelter for expectant women—received state and federal monies as part of the initiative from Real Alternatives.
In a statement, Shapiro said his government would not “continue that pattern” of funding the group, adding that he was unwavering in his defense of access to abortion.
In the middle of the 1990s, Pennsylvania became the first state to officially implement an abortion alternative program. The state started funding alternatives alongside an already-existing program that financed Planned Parenthood’s services for women’s health under the direction of then-Gov.
Bob Casey, a pro-life Democrat and opponent of abortion. In the years that followed, funding for both programs had been maintained by governors of both parties.
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Real Alternatives Funding Cut
According to a statement from Real Alternatives, its network of facilities in Pennsylvania saw nearly 350,000 women during 1.9 million office visits. Pennsylvania handed the organization around $7 million last year, and it gave that money to more than 70 centers.
Real Alternatives once oversaw initiatives in Indiana and Michigan, which served as models for other states looking to fund similar organizations with public dollars. Pennsylvania is about to discontinue supporting the program, but the decision is still having an effect on other states.
These organizations, which are frequently linked with religion, have received tens of millions of dollars in tax money from taxpayers all around the United States. Republican-led states have increased their tax contributions to what are frequently referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” but Democratic-leaning states have increased their monitoring of them since the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the right to an abortion last year.
Several Pennsylvania Democrats made defunding the program a top goal for the state budget, and pro-abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood PA Advocates applauded the decision.
According to Laura Antkowiak, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, worries about access to abortions increasingly outweigh the good intentions centers frequently tout.
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Source: WESA
