This week, leaders of the Women’s Health Caucus of the Pennsylvania Legislature called for Pennsylvania to defund crisis pregnancy centers in the Commonwealth in response to the groundbreaking new report Designed to Deceive: A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States.
The report was released in the wake of a Philadelphia Inquirer investigation that revealed Pennsylvania has been taking money from a safety-net program known as TANF intended for low-income pregnant people and children and giving it to anti-abortion activists to run CPCs.
Chart via Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Pennsylvania have long diverted money from a program that actually helps needy families in Pennsylvania,” Representative Mary Jo Daley, chair of the Women’s Health Caucus, said in a statement. “CPCs often target low-income women and women of color by providing them with biased and false medical claims. Instead, we should be promoting science-based and safe family medicine practices across the Commonwealth.”
Taking money from low-income pregnant people and giving it to an anti-abortion organization whose CEO reportedly earns six figures is part of a pattern of egregious treatment of pregnant people in Pennsylvania, where “pro-life” legislative leadership has repeatedly blocked efforts to protect the health of pregnant people by refusing to advance legislation like the Pennsylvania Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
“Our constituents deserve better and TANF recipients deserve improved benefits to meet the needs of PA’s children,” said Senator Judy Schwank.
“CPCs, which are non-medical centers and disseminate false information to stop people from receiving abortion care, have no place in Pennsylvania’s budget,” said Senator Amanda Cappelletti. “The Alliance’s newest report found that state-funded CPCs, like Real Alternatives here in Pennsylvania, are more harmful than privately funded centers.
“At a time like this – nearly two years of facing the health and economic impacts of a global pandemic – it is more crucial than ever to ensure that our state’s resources are being used in places they matter most and not being wasted on programs that do not provide real services,” said Rep. Morgan Cephas.
Read the full statement here.
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