Republicans push back on Biden plan to axe federal funds for anti-abortion counseling centers
WASHINGTON — In a new twist to the fight over abortion access, Republicans in Congress are trying to block a Biden administration spending rule that they say will cut millions of dollars to anti-abortion counseling centers.
The rule would ban states from sending federal funds intended for needy Americans to so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” which discourage abortions. At stake are millions of dollars in federal funds that currently flow to the organizations through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a block grant program created in 1996 to provide financial assistance to poor and illegitimate children. prevent pregnancies.
“Programs that provide only or primarily pregnancy counseling to women after they become pregnant are unlikely to meet the … standard,” the Health and Human Services Agency said in its rule proposal released late last year.
More than 7,000 comments have been submitted on the proposed rule, which includes a series of restrictions on how states could spend TANF funds.
The proposal to limit funding for anti-abortion counseling centers is the Biden administration’s latest attempt to implement federal policies that expand access to abortion. Conservative states have severely limited care since the U.S. Supreme Court stripped women of their federal right to abortion in 2022.
Republicans in Congress this week introduced legislation that would prevent the Health and Human Services Agency from restricting funds from the centers. The bill has no chance of becoming law this year.
“Pregnancy centers are an important and essential alternative for expectant mothers,” Republican Rep. Darin LaHood of Illinois said Thursday during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing to strengthen the legislation.
The anti-abortion counseling centers have become an increasingly popular way for conservatives to preach against abortions. An Associated Press investigation last year found that states have sent increasing amounts of money to the programs over the past decade. More than a dozen states have given the centers roughly $500 million in taxpayer money since 2010. Last year, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor cut funding for all centers from the state budget.
Not only is the centers’ mission controversial because employees often advise pregnant patients not to seek abortions, but critics say the organizations can also provide misleading information about abortion and contraception, such as suggesting that abortion can cause breast cancer. Most centers are religiously affiliated and do not have recognized healthcare institutions. They typically offer pregnancy tests and some offer limited medical services such as ultrasounds.
The Human Coalition, an anti-abortion organization with offices in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Texas, estimates it would lose millions of dollars in funding, said Chelsey Youman, the group’s national director of public policy. Plans to expand into Louisiana and Indiana could be put on hold if the rule goes through, she added.
Youman says her organization helps women connect with social services, such as Medicaid, and convince them to continue with their pregnancies.
“The work we do is truly compassionate and loving care for women who are sometimes facing the most difficult moment of their lives,” Youman said.
HHS is proposing several adjustments that would change the way states can use the $16.5 billion in block grants intended for the nation’s neediest families. The proposal follows a high-profile corruption scandal in Mississippi that saw $77 million in TANF funds wasted over several years.
The restrictions would limit how much of the money ultimately benefits middle- and high-income earners, with the agency saying the percentage of impoverished families receiving financial assistance has fallen from nearly 70% in 1996 to just over 21% in 2020. The plan would limit how states use the money for things like college scholarships and child care.