Effort to reinstate funding for Minnesota pregnancy help organizations fails by one vote

The Minnesota House Democratic majority has again prevented taxpayer funding for pregnancy resource centers after a Republican-sponsored bill was brought to the floor. 

Representative Natalie Zeleznikar of Fredenberg Township created House File 25 as a way to reverse a 2023 decision that ended 17 years of bipartisan state funding to PRCs and maternity homes through the “Positive Alternatives Grant Program.” This year’s proposed bill would have given about $3M to PRCs and $1M to maternity homes in the 2026-27 fiscal year. As Alpha News reported in 2005, when the “Positive Alternatives Grant Program” was first voted into practice, the vote was 112-17 and drew support from both sides of the aisle. Sadly, Zeleznikar’s attempt to revive the program required 68 votes to pass, and lost in a vote of 67-65. All 67 Republican members voted in favor of the bill.

At the March 13th debate, Zeleznikar stated, “I think that there’s a reason that existed for 17 years, and there’s no reason for it to have been removed in 2023, except to give less options to women.” 

Along with the increased funding, the bill requires that those receiving the money must “be a nonprofit, offer services or referrals to pregnant women or women who recently gave birth, and provide those services free or at a reduced cost,” but must not “encourage or counsel women to have an abortion that is not necessary to prevent the woman’s death.”

READ: After defunding pregnancy centers, Pennsylvania governor starts program that mimics them

Those opposed to the measure claimed that PRCs “defraud” women by pretending to be health clinics and by blocking their access to abortion. Among these voices were Rep. Leigh Finke, who claimed that PRCs were “part of an extremist, patriarchal, right-wing religious agenda,” and Rep. Jamie Long, who said that PRCs “falsely present themselves as health care providers … and then provide medically inaccurate information to the individuals they’ve tricked.” 

Zeleznikar pushed back, saying, “These places are not saying they are a medical clinic, they are a resource center… The grants that go to sexual and reproductive health grants, to my knowledge, they are not a licensed setting either. A medical clinic is licensed. A hospital is licensed. That’s not what this program is for.”

Rep. Kristin Robbins also pushed back, saying she couldn’t stand to watch the “villainization” of PRCs, pointing out that Planned Parenthood’s funding has increased by 43% since 2010. Meanwhile, only 17% of PRC reported receiving any state or federal funding as of 2022.

Planned Parenthood and its supporters have long been on a smear campaign against the good work of PRCs as they offer the full range of life-affirming options and resources to the women and families that walk through their doors. But newer research is showing the holes in the abortion industry’s lies by proving PRCs have a positive impact on those they serve. 

According to a report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute, in 2022, 2,750 PRCs in the U.S. provided a total of nearly $368M in services and material goods to over 16 million clients. The overwhelming majority reported having positive experiences with PRCs.

Heartbeat International’s Pregnancy Center Truth website dispels some of the most common myths and accusations directed toward PRCs and those who support them. A January 2023 Marist poll revealed that 91% of those polled expressed support for the existence and work of pregnancy centers.