(Photo via Michigan Advance)
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released her list of line item vetoes to the 2020 Michigan state budget. Among them was the removal of a $700,000 item that went to Real Alternatives, the Pennsylvania-based, taxpayer-funded chain of “crisis pregnancy centers” that expanded to Michigan.
“Congratulations to Governor Whitmer of Michigan for defunding Real Alternatives,” says WLP Senior Staff Attorney Susan J. Frietsche. “Pennsylvania should do the same. We shouldn’t be siphoning off safety-net resources for single mothers to pay a six-figure salary to the CEO of Real Alternatives. This organization misuses public funds to promote an anti-abortion agenda; that’s no way to protect women’s health.”
This is not Real Alternatives’ first allegation of misuse of funds.
In January, watchdog group Campaign for Accountability (CFA) filed a complaint alleging that Real Alternatives misused taxpayer funds and failed to provide adequate health services to Michigan women. According to reports, Real Alternatives has received $2.6 million over five years to run the Michigan Pregnancy and Parenting Support Program (MPPSP). “Real Alternatives has grossly mismanaged Michigan’s alternatives to abortion program,” said Alice Huling, a lawyer with CFA, said at the time. “It seems its leaders have lied to state officials, engaged in self-dealing and wasted scarce taxpayer resources leaving women without health care services. The state should immediately investigate and shut down this ineffective program.”
Read that complaint here.
In May, a group called Equity Forward launched “Real Waste,” which it described as “a website and ad campaign calling attention to the misuse of taxpayer money by Real Alternatives (RA), a Pennsylvania-based state contractor that operates anti-abortion programs in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Indiana.”
Pennsylvania is one of only a handful of states that diverts TANF funds—that is, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families—into Real Alternatives, including directly into the CEO’s significant salary. Real Alternatives admitted that it has used Pennsylvania taxpayer money to seed operations in other states after suing in response to being audited.
“It is outrageous that, by its own admission in court, Real Alternatives used hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars to fund its activities in other states,” Pennsylvania Auditor General DePasquale said in a statement at the time. “It is just as outrageous that the state grant agreement was so weak that it allowed this practice to go on for decades siphoning funds intended to benefit Pennsylvania women experiencing crisis pregnancies.”
“We will never know how much money was taken out of the commonwealth nor how many Pennsylvania women and children may have been affected because this company channeled our tax dollars to other states,” DePasquale said.
A 2006 Congressional investigation found that 87% of surveyed centers provided false or misleading information about abortion.
Unlike Michigan, Pennsylvania continues to funnel millions of dollars into Real Alternatives despite evidence of promoting medically inaccurate information and ongoing litigation related to misused funds.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center devoted to defending and expanding the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
Sign up for WLP’s Action Alerts. Stay up to date on issues and policy by following us on twitter liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram.
We are a non-profit organization. Please consider supporting equal rights for women and girls by making a one-time donation or scheduling a monthly contribution.
