One Billion in tax dollars funds CPCs instead of needy families
State governments have gutted programs designed to pay for things like diapers so they can support antiabortion facilities
Since 1995, dozens of states have allocated more than $1 billion in tax dollars to crisis pregnancy centers, also known as anti-abortion centers.
That’s according to new research produced by Equity Forward, which examined records from 23 states. Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri, and Minnesota have given the most to those facilities.
In 2001, the federal government allowed states to begin directing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to CPCs. Since then, nearly $200 million in TANF funds has been funneled to those facilities in nine states. This is a significant concern because the money could have gone to improve maternal health and provide direct support to families instead of organizations that operate in an opaque fashion. TANF allows families to purchase essential things like diapers and formula.
Ashley Underwood, director of Equity Forward, called for reallocation of the money to address maternity deserts.
“It truly is a disservice for public dollars to be going into propaganda machines,” Underwood said. “Public dollars should ideally be going into programming that benefits the public in a genuine and real manner.”
As abortion access has been restricted or eliminated in nearly half the states, funding for CPCs has grown considerably. Since Dobbs, over $489 million has been allocated to CPCs in 22 states. Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have given the most since June 2022.
The money that is sent to them can be spent on a variety of things, including misleading advertising targeting pregnant women who may seek abortions.
“What we have seen in previous research in public records, where we analyze grant reports, is that oftentimes, very little of the funding they're receiving is going towards direct support of people such as (providing) diapers,” Underwood said.
People typically go through counseling at the centers before receiving the supplies they wanted when they first went to the facility.
“We just we really should not be providing any sort of covid dollars and governmental support for anti abortion centers, because they have not proven themselves to be an actual good for the community,” Underwood said. “In fact, they are again just taking dollars th