Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is cutting millions in taxpayer funding to a pro-life program that supports counseling and housing for pregnant women.
“Pennsylvania plans to end on Dec. 31 its longstanding contract with the nonprofit Real Alternatives, the first organization in the nation to secure significant state and federal subsidies to support anti-abortion counseling centers,” the Associated Press reported. “Under the program, Real Alternatives distributed the state and federal funds to dozens of Pennsylvania centers, including Catholic Charities, anti-abortion counseling centers and maternity homes, which provide support and housing for pregnant women.”
In a statement, Shapiro said his administration will not “continue that pattern” of supporting the pro-life organization and will instead work to promote abortion.
“We will ensure women in this Commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve,” he said.
Eileen Artysh, the executive director of St. Margaret of Castello Maternity Home, said that while state money is not its entire budget, the move will impact the center’s longevity. The maternity home receives money through Real Alternatives to provide housing, materials, and parenting counseling.
She added that many pregnant women who come to the maternity home have already decided against aborting their babies.
“Until there’s that last penny left, I’m in this for the long haul,” she said. “And the moms that we help — I can’t imagine deserting any of them.”
Pennsylvania was the first state to begin an “abortion alternative program” in the mid-’90s, according to the report.
“Helmed by then-Gov. Bob Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat, the state began funding alternatives in tandem with a preexisting program that subsidized Planned Parenthood’s services for women’s health,” the report states. “The funding for both programs had continued under both Republican and Democratic governors in the years since.”
Real Alternatives said in a statement that its network of centers has seen approximately 350,000 women at 1.9 million office visits in the state. In 2022, the state sent roughly $7 million to the organization, which then sent the funds to more than 70 centers, the report states. Real Alternatives has previously overseen programs in other states and inspired them to fund similar organizations with taxpayer dollars.
Alyssa MacAfee, 26, told the outlet she was helped by St. Margaret’s in Pennsylvania when she found herself homeless, jobless, in early recovery, and pregnant. She came to the maternity home when she was six months pregnant and stayed until her daughter was around five months old.
“Everyone was definitely looking at my situation like, ‘You cannot bring a baby into the world right now,’ but I knew that I wanted to,” she said.
MacAfee said she was able to get a job and an apartment after leaving the maternity home, which still provides her with some diapers, and called it “the biggest blessing life has ever given me.”
Defunding the program was a top priority for Democrats in the state and has been praised by the pro-abortion Planned Parenthood PA Advocates. Now, the Shapiro administration is looking to send $8 million in state subsidies “to other women’s health providers,” according to the report.
“It’s sad because this is a great program, and you take this program away, abortions will substantially increase in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Kevin Bagatta, president and CEO of Real Alternatives.
