Pennsylvania Terminates Funding for Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers
Gov. Shapiro’s decision is deadly. These organizations breathe life into their communities by helping mothers thrive and overcome difficult circumstances
In August 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that the state of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services would no longer provide funding to the nonprofit organization Real Alternatives as of January 1, 2024.
According to the Associated Press, Michelle Kuppersmith of Campaign for Accountability, a group that has called for defunding of Real Alternatives, stated, “Now, just as many states, unfortunately, looked to Pennsylvania as a model for letting these programs into their states, we urge other states to follow suit in eliminating this spending that is not just wasteful, but actively harmful to the health of their citizens.”
The arguments against these centers don’t seem to understand what kind of work they actually do.
Since 1994, with support from the Pennsylvania DHS, Real Alternatives has provided support services through local programs for pregnant women and new mothers, such as counseling, pre- and post-natal education, adoption service information, life-skills training, and access to other community support programs and services.
With 77 centers across the state, Real Alternatives has seen about 350,000 women in over 1.9 million office visits. Each service provider is staffed with trained counselors who offer free and confidential mentoring in a “non-judgmental atmosphere of understanding and support,” according to their website.
Real Alternatives does not claim to be a medical provider–in fact, the program is self-labeled as a “human services” or “social services program.” The program “exists to provide comprehensive support so a woman does not need to undergo an abortion.”
Gov. Shapiro, however, bemoaned the fact that tax dollars have supported Real Alternatives in a statement announcing the end of state funding for the program. The Democratic governor also vowed that his administration would ensure that women in the state have easy abortion access.
“Pennsylvanians made clear by electing me as Governor that they support a woman’s freedom to choose, and I will be steadfast in defending that right,” he said.
It’s unclear, though, why the support of an organization meant to give women options beyond abortion infringes on any right to choice. By providing their resources and services, Real Alternatives is supporting women who don’t want to choose abortion or need financial and educational aid to choose life more assuredly.
In order to be truly pro-choice and pro-women, it would seem necessary to allow equal access to several kinds of service providers.
Furthermore, pro-choice defenders often contend that in order to be pro-life, we need to be providing the necessary care to mothers– a point that all of us can wholeheartedly agree upon. And yet, they defund the organizations meant to provide that care.
“The funding allows us… to give them educational material so they can be positive parents,” said Kathy Reilly, Director of Residential Services at a Real Alternatives-funded center, Genesis, in Pittsburgh. “We’re able to give them diapers, wipes, baby clothes, baby furniture… Without that funding, we would not be able to do that.”
Real Alternatives is doing the work that pro-choice Americans are calling for– they’re providing care for mother and child well after birth.
The work these centers do is irreplaceable, and it seems strange for Gov. Shapiro to condemn pregnancy centers for receiving government funding instead of Planned Parenthood. According to the corporation's 2021-2022 annual report, the organization performed 374,155 abortions for the year ending on June 30, 2022, while collecting $670.4 million in government grants and reimbursements.
By contrast, Mary’s Shelter, a Real Alternatives-funded maternity home in Reading, Pennsylvania, offers women a safe place to live and confidently raise their children.
“Every woman that has come to us has already made a decision that they want to be able to parent their child… they want to get their basic needs met,” Deputy Director Daniella Monohan said about the shelter. “A lot of young women come to us with a minimal support system.”
Monahan also shared a story about a woman who sought help at Mary’s Shelter:
“Liz had come to us because she was in a domestic abuse situation, and she was pregnant. And she had been looking for the strength to leave this situation for a long period of time, and getting pregnant was enough for her to be able to leave that situation… She showed up at my building at 6:50 in the morning, trying to figure out what the plan was going to be for her… We invited her in… She moved in that same day… And Liz is absolutely doing amazing. We helped her get a PFA, we helped her with some counseling to help her learn what is a good relationship and what is not… To have a healthy pregnancy and to have a healthy outcome is to help build a healthy parent.”
Our government is actively shutting down funding that builds that support system, that critical community for young mothers seeking help. Not all young women want to choose abortion. By cutting off these pregnancy centers and shelters, the Pennsylvania government is effectively telling the women who may need emotional and physical support that their only choice is abortion.
Gov. Shapiro’s decision is deadly. These organizations breathe life into their communities by helping mothers thrive and overcome difficult circumstances, but instead, they’re viewed as care that Pennsylvanian women don’t “deserve.”