Pennsylvania has cut funding to pro-life counseling centers, ending roughly three decades of support.
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the state would be ending an agreement with Real Alternatives, a nonprofit pro-life agency, according to Fox News. Real Alternatives was reportedly the first organization in the United States that has received sizable funding from state and federal subsidiaries, according to ABC News.
“We will ensure women in this Commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve,” Shapiro said in a statement.
Pennsylvania to cut funding for pro-life counseling centers after almost 3 decades https://t.co/bALlM8C7Yo
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) September 1, 2023
Between 1993 and 1995, former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey put funding for pregnancy and parenting support counseling services into the state’s budget, according to the Real Alternatives website.
The program’s goal was to encourage childbirth rather than abortions, and to assist in helping women using adoption agencies, pregnancy centers, social services agencies, and women’s maternity centers, according to the website.
In 2022, Real Alternatives dispersed $7 million to 70 pro-life pregnancy centers throughout the state, according to the outlet.
Pennsylvania’s move comes as states such as Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas have signed similar legislation into effect banning abortion either after six weeks, once a heartbeat is detected, or have banned abortion altogether.
In June 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Five conservative justices ruled in favor, while Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s three liberal justices.
