$7.5M coming to pregnancy crisis centers
A big bump in funding for crisis pregnancy centers in Ohio’s new state budget is fueling a fight around the controversial facilities that supporters say help needy women, though critics decry them as “fake health clinics” meant to steer women away from abortions.
The final budget, signed July 18, sets aside $7.5 million over the next two years for the Ohio Parenting and Pregnancy Program, which funds several crisis pregnancy centers throughout the state.
That’s up from $1 million in the last biennial budget, and $2.5 million more than earlier versions of the Republicancontrolled General Assembly’s budget bill.
The centers generally are religiously affiliated nonprofits that offer parenting classes, assistance with prenatal care and other services related to early parenting.
They also counsel women against abortions and, in some cases, conduct ultrasounds. Often, the centers have licensed medical professionals who are opposed to abortion serving as their medical directors.
“We have always been a pro-life caucus, and the addition of this money reflects that,” said John Fortney, a spokesman for the Senate Republican caucus. “We think it’s important to look after the moms and also the baby that will eventually be born.”
The legislature first funded the program in the 2013 budget through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services awarded grants ranging from $22,000 to $100,000 to six recipients during the last budget cycle.
“My question is: Beyond handing out cribs and diapers and false information, what in the world is the state of Ohio paying $7.5 million for?” asked Sen. Nickie Antonio, D-lakewood.
State funding makes up a small portion of the budget for several groups receiving money from the program. For example, Dayton-based Elizabeth’s New Life Center, one of the biggest crisis pregnancy organizations in the state, has a $3 million annual budget and received $100,000 from the state to operate its seven locations.
Ohio law places several restrictions on the
Organization
Elizabeth’s New Life Center
Pregnancy Decision Health Centers Heartbeat of Toledo
Catholic Social Services Inc.
Highland County Community Action Organization Coleman Professional Services centers and organizations that receive state funds. Lawmakers designed the program to promote childbirth and parenting as alternatives to abortion and meet TANF grant guidelines.
They also must be nonprofit, promote childbirth and provide clothing, counseling, diapers, health care, parenting classes and other supportive services at no charge. In practice, the health care requirement takes the form of pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and other prenatal care.
Democratic lawmakers have questioned, though, how the state can fund the centers but not have strict oversight of them.
“They’re a crisis center of some sort, yet there’s no oversight. There’s no accountability. There’s no requirement or inspections,” Antonio said. “I think that’s very problematic. They’re representing themselves as something truly that they’re not.”
House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes said the centers hide behind their religious affiliation to avoid regulation, claiming that attempts to control them would violate the First Amendment.
Visits to Columbus-based Pregnancy Decision Health Centers increased to nearly 5,000 last year, and they performed more than 1,600 ultrasounds, said Julie Moore, the nonprofit’s president. About 88% of the women that the centers serve earn less than $30,000 a year, she said.
Moore would not divulge the proportion of visits that involve women seeking abortion counseling.
Organizations seeking state grants had to file an application with the state, explaining how many eligible clients they serve, where the service occurs and who provides the service, among other things.
“Each item or program we plan to use the money for has to be explained, justified and itemized down to the penny,” said Vivian Koob, executive director of Elizabeth’s New Life Center.
In addition to that assessment, many centers assess women and their individual circumstances to determine what care they need.
Centers often categorize women based on how likely they are to get an abortion, using training from larger organizations such as Heartbeat International, Koob said.
A woman is deemed “abortion-minded” if she wants an abortion or is being pressured toward one by someone else. “Abortionvulnerable” is reserved for women who have had abortions in the past, or who do not have the resources to carry their pregnancies to term. Other categories apply to women who want to carry their pregnancies to term.
If someone is “abortionminded,” the center cannot do much other than give information about abortion, offer support or try to counsel against it. Under Ohio law, the centers cannot be associated with “any abortion activities, including providing abortion counseling or referrals to abortion clinics, performing abortion-related medical procedures, or engaging in pro-abortion advertising.”
Though it’s anti-abortion, following guidance from the Catholic Church, Catholic Social Services does not consider itself a pregnancy center, Vice President Sabree Akinyele said. The agency does not offer clients medical advice, Akinyele said, though it does refer them to other providers.
Like pregnancy centers, Catholic Social Services provides diapers, pack-andplays and other supplies for young mothers, but Akinyele said staff does not discuss abortion with clients.
The organization received $75,000 grants in 2017 and 2018 that helped fund a case manager who works with clients accessing its mental health services, Akinyele said.
The case manager helps pregnant women and new mothers navigate public benefits systems, negotiate with landlords when they can’t afford rent, goes to eviction court and deals with transportation problems, she said.
The abortion information that many centers provide has been scrutinized as inaccurate by opponents. For example, Pregnancy Decision Health Centers and other centers across