If you've ever seen an ad on TV that claims to give women "options" and "choices" in their pregnancy, as well as care for "new moms," you may have seen an ad for a Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC.) These centers often masquerade as places that work similarly to healthcare clinics like Planned Parenthood, but their motivations are typically to dissuade women from seeking abortions.
While they use flowery and caring language to bring in women, religious organizations often operate them and can even have staff that are not medically certified. But the real kicker is where they get their funding: federal taxpayer dollars in bloc grants for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), sometimes called welfare. Several states, unsurprisingly those that are Republican-led states, funnel federal or state dollars into these centers. Ohio, while already using federal money for CPCs, is considering giving them more money as retaliation for the success of Issue 1 earlier this month. Per The Guardian: "[T]he Ohio senate finance committee discussed a bill from the state senator Sandra O'Brien, a Republican, who proposed that individuals who give to "qualifying pregnancy resource centers" may be eligible for tax credits, at a cost of up to $10 [million] to Ohio."
It's important to note that these states utilize this as part of guidelines created for TANF funding (see below). Per Vox: "[S]everal states claimed that, by promoting "alternatives to abortion" in the form of CPCs, they are fulfilling the federal requirements to either encourage marriage and two-parent families, or to prevent and reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies."
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