Shapiro administration ends contract with crisis pregnancy center funders

Gov. Josh Shapiro says his administration will cut ties with an organization that funds “crisis pregnancy centers” when its multimillion dollar state contract expires at the end of the year.

Real Alternatives, a Harrisburg nonprofit, for decades has received millions in funding from the state legislature earmarked for programs that offer alternatives to abortion. State lawmakers have also sent Real Alternatives about $1 million per year in federal funding from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which is intended to provide cash assistance to women and children in poverty.

In Pennsylvania, Real Alternatives funds 27 facilities that dissuade clients from obtaining abortions and instead offer pregnancy and parenting support. Advocates for reproductive rights have for years criticized these centers, saying they distribute misleading information to vulnerable patients seeking help with an unplanned pregnancy.

“For decades, taxpayer dollars have gone to fund Real Alternatives. My administration will not continue that pattern – we will ensure women in this commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve,” Shapiro said in the statement.

Shapiro’s administration said the state Department of Human Services will instead ask for applications from women’s health providers across the state to fund women’s health programs.

In an email, Real Alternatives representatives said they were “shocked” Shapiro had decided not to renew its contract. The organization has served about 350,000 women over the last 27 years, they said, offering services up to a year after a woman gives birth.

“We believe the governor has been terribly misinformed about the need for the program and its success,” they said.

Republicans in the state legislature have sharply criticized the move. Changes to how money previously given to Real Alternatives is spent will need to be addressed during fiscal code negotiations, which are ongoing, said Kate Flessner, a spokeswoman for the state Senate Republican Caucus.

Advocates for reproductive rights have cheered Shapiro’s decision, but said they want the administration to do more to improve access to reproductive health care.

“Not paying public dollars for pseudo-medicine that puts people at risk is the absolute floor,” said Kelly Davis, the executive director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, an organization that focuses on the needs of Black women and people across the full spectrum of gender identities in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

It’s crucial, she said, that Black patients — who are four times as likely as white people to die of pregnancy-related causes — receive adequate medical care while they’re pregnant. Crisis pregnancy centers are often located in areas where obstetrical care is scarce and patients feel they have few options, she said.

She and other advocates said they will continue to press Shapiro’s administration to fund other organizations that provide health care to pregnant people.

“We’re going to work to ensure the funds are reallocated to support evidence-based support for pregnant people,” said Tara Murtha, director of strategic communications for the Women’s Law Project, a nonprofit legal organization that advocates for reproductive rights.

A 2021 report on crisis pregnancy centers by the group found that none funded by public dollars in Pennsylvania provide prenatal care, and just under half referred patients out for care. None of the centers in the state provide contraception, according to the report. More than half put out “false or biased” information on reproductive health, the report said.

On its website, Real Alternatives said that it does not mislead its clients about its services and that its centers must be open about the fact that they do not offer abortion services. In an email, they said the organization has never purported to deliver medical care and instead refers clients to care outside its organization if they need it.

“Terminating this program will result in an increase in abortions throughout the commonwealth,” the group said.