Texas gives millions to pregnancy resource centers – and here’s why

Multiple media outlets ran outraged stories reporting that Texas sends millions of dollars to pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) each year, as funding was increased for the state’s Alternatives to Abortion (A2A) program, now known as Thriving Texas Families. Yet instead of applauding the pro-life state for working to give resources to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies, this is being slammed as wasteful and lacking oversight.

A joint investigation from CBS News and ProPublica claimed “the system that funnels a growing pot of state money to anti-abortion nonprofits has few safeguards and is riddled with waste … [o]fficials with the Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees the program, don’t know the specifics of how tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent or whether that money is addressing families’ needs.” They claimed PRCs receive donations of items like diapers for free, and then receive from the state a fee for distributing them. The piece insinuated that PRCs are engaging in fraudulent behavior, raking in taxpayer dollars while doing little to earn the cash:

The state can be charged $14 each time one of these subcontractors distributes items from one of several categories, including food, clothing and educational materials. That means the distribution of a couple of educational pamphlets could net the same $14 fee as a much pricier pack of diapers. A single visit by a client to a subcontractor can result in multiple charges stacking up. Centers are eligible to collect the fees regardless of how many items are distributed or how much they are worth. One April morning, a client at McAllen Pregnancy Center, near the Texas-Mexico border, received a bag with some diapers, a baby outfit, a baby blanket, a pack of wipes, a baby brush, a snack and two pamphlets. It was not clear how much the center invoiced for these items.

McAllen Pregnancy Center and other Texas Pregnancy Care Network subcontractors were paid more than $54 million from 2021 to 2023 for distributing these items, according to records.

How much of that was for handing out pamphlets? The state said it didn’t know; it doesn’t collect data on the quantities or types of items provided to clients or whether they are essential items like diapers or just pamphlets, making it impossible for the public to know how tax dollars were spent.

READ: Report: Pro-life pregnancy centers provided over $367M in services in 2022

Supposed experts interviewed for the investigation argued that this is a strange way of handling business. “This is a policy choice Texas has made,” Samuel Brunson, associate dean for faculty research and development at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, who researches and writes about the federal income tax and nonprofit organizations, said. “It has chosen to redistribute money from taxpayers to the reserve funds of private nonprofit organizations.”

Yet this is exactly what happens, on both a state and federal level, for Planned Parenthood, which is also a private, non-profit organization. In the corporation’s latest annual report, for example, Planned Parenthood reported receiving over half a billion dollars in taxpayer funding, and over $2 billion in revenue. They ended the 2023 fiscal year with over $178 billion in excess revenue, and net assets and liabilities of over $2.9 billion, the highest recorded in recent years. Moreover, Planned Parenthood is known to have committed Medicaid fraud in numerous states, including in Texas.

Where is the investigation into their taxpayer funding, and whether or not it is wasteful or necessary?

Meanwhile, acknowledged nowhere in the article is what, exactly, PRCs do to help pregnant women and families. The reality is that PRCs provided over $367 million worth of services in 2022, including distributing free diapers, wipes, car seats, baby clothes, strollers, cribs, formula, and more. Other reports state that 90% of PRC funding comes from local community donations as well as grants while 10-11% comes from federal funding.

Women deserve to have alternatives to abortion, which is what PRCs provide. And it is likely for this exact reason that they are under attack from the pro-abortion media.

Editor’s Note 7/22/24: The article was updated for clarification.

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