WLP Statement on Shapiro Administration Ending Contract with Real Alternatives
Pennsylvania officials announced the state contract with crisis pregnancy center pass-through organization Real Alternatives will be terminated at the end of the year
Over the last three decades, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has funneled more than $134 million dollars, including at least $21 million intended to directly support children and pregnant people in poverty, to anti-abortion executives and activists operating in the crisis pregnancy center industry via Real Alternatives, the pass-through organization that oversees a network of approximately 27 crisis pregnancy centers of the approximately 156 operating in Pennsylvania.
In 2020, watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a 27-page public complaint detailing extensive allegations of misuse and waste of public funds by Real Alternatives. This complaint came in the wake of an audit that resulted in a former Pennsylvania official accusing the organization of “skimming” funds.
Today, the Shapiro Administration announced the contract with Real Alternatives will be terminated by the end of the year.
“The CPC industry has been repeatedly shown to promote false and misleading medical information and engage in practices that exploit and potentially harm people seeking legitimate medical care, and the allegations against Real Alternatives have been inadequately addressed for far too long,” says Amal Bass, interim co-director of Women’s Law Project. “We thank the Shapiro Administration for terminating the contract with Real Alternatives and urge the Administration to reallocate the funds to support evidence-based reproductive healthcare.”
Real Alternatives has now been defunded in two of the three states in which they have held state contracts.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer defunded Real Alternatives in 2019 noting “questionable benefit” in the wake of a public complaint alleging the organization “grossly mismanaged” the program. Real Alternatives is still funded with public money in Indiana, where it has faced scrutiny over financial claims.
“The Shapiro Administration has pushed Pennsylvania into the right side of history by announcing the termination of funding to Real Alternatives,” says Tara Murtha, WLP director of strategic communications and co-author of Designed to Deceive: A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States. “The people of Pennsylvania, medical experts, reproductive health advocates, and government accountability watchdogs who have been demanding accountability have been heard today. We are grateful to the Shapiro Administration for taking bold action to protect our health and privacy.”
Contact Tara Murtha at tmurtha@womenslawproject.org.
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Women’s Law Project is a non-profit public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
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