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Crisis pregnancy centers ‘undermine public health,’ need investigating, congressmen say

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Crisis pregnancy centers ‘undermine public health,’ need investigating, congressmen say

By Jay Waagmeester
Crisis pregnancy centers ‘undermine public health,’ need investigating, congressmen say
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U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost is calling for a government-led investigation into federal funding for “anti-abortion” centers.

Frost, a Democrat from Central Florida, along with Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin, are calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into how crisis pregnancy centers spend federal funds.

The two wrote to the GAO following a study conducted by Healthcare Management Associates, a research and consulting group, found that crisis pregnancy centers received $400 million in federal funding between 2017 and 2023 with little oversight by regulators.

“We are concerned about certain federally funded organizations that claim to provide reproductive health care for pregnant people but whose ultimate motive, often achieved through deception, misinformation, and intimidation, is to prevent people from accessing abortion care,” the representatives wrote in a letter to the comptroller general of the GAO.

Frost said the centers undermine public health by “posing as legitimate medical clinics” and delay access to “medically legitimate parental and abortion care.”

The National Institutes of Health found the centers target marketing materials toward young people, people of color, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status — also their most frequent attendees.

Crisis pregnancy centers offer many of the same services as other women’s health centers, including pregnancy testing and care, but often are backed by religious organizations and try to discourage patients from undergoing abortions.

Frost and Raskin especially oppose centers supported by Heartbeat International, Care Net, and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which are not subject to HIPAA requirements, including to protect patient privacy. The three organizations are associated with a significant number of crisis pregnancy centers in the United States.

Planned Parenthood opposes crisis pregnancy centers, often referred to as “anti-abortion centers,” saying the centers “disrespect liberty of conscience and a woman’s right to follow her faith’s teachings” by preventing nonjudgemental guidance.

The representatives are asking the GAO to investigate total federal funding received by the centers since 1996, which programs the funding came from, justification for the funding from the centers, and whether the funding is audited.

The HMA study states that federal funds have come from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 and 2021; the Title X Federal Family Planning Program; the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); and other programs, the largest of those by far being TANF.

“State uses of substantial proportions of their TANF block grants are opaque, and it can be difficult to identify the sources of appropriations for [crisis pregnancy centers] in some states,” the report states.