Real Alternatives runs dozens of pregnancy resource centers in Pennsylvania. Until 2023, they received funding from the state.
With calls to end state funding for organizations that provide resources for unexpectedly expecting mothers, abortion advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood and their political allies have fought to close Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs).
Yet less than two years after ending the state funding of Real Alternatives, a nonprofit organization that partners with PRCs across Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a pilot program that mimics the services Real Alternatives provides.
At an event last week in Lock Haven, the state Department of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen unveiled the project as part of the Shapiro administration’s goal “to improve the health of the Commonwealth’s mothers, babies, and families.” In her remarks, Bogan noted that “access to pre- and post-pregnancy care is limited by several factors.”
Before Shapiro cut funding for Real Alternatives, PRCs administered by the non-profit were providing “pregnancy and parenting support” to 349,000 women across 77 sites in the state. At the time, advocates for PRCs criticized Shapiro’s cuts, saying his support for “a woman’s freedom to choose” is undercut by “unilaterally depriving access to services funded by Real Alternatives” and removing the choice for women to receive pregnancy services.
Shortly after Shapiro ended state funding for Real Alternatives, his administration began soliciting complaints from the public against PRCs via an online form “Report Reproductive Health Deceptive Activity.” Shapiro has been invited repeatedly to visit a PRC “to observe their services firsthand” but has refused to accept the invitation.
Leadership from the Pennsylvania Pregnancy Wellness Collaborative raised the question of why this new pilot program was necessary when it “simply duplicates services that already exist.” Some of these services go beyond medical help, such as “material assistance” and “essential supplies for mothers and infants.”
When announcing the pilot program in Lock Haven, Dr. Bogen listed out all the medical and social services available to pregnant women, including depression screenings, car seat safety checks, referrals for substance abuse, SNAP and WIC food benefits, housing and transportation assistance. Real Alternatives covered the same services and more.
While the new pilot program and the programs run by Real Alternatives appear to be duplicates, there is one major difference. Real Alternatives will not provide abortions or refer women to abortion clinics. Their refusal to offer abortion services appears to be the reason Shapiro cut funding for the group according to Live Action, a pro-life advocacy group.
Until Shapiro cut them from the state budget in 2023, PRCs received $134 million to provide pre- and post-natal services for Pennsylvania women. The founding CEO of Real Alternatives, Kevin Bagatta, told reporters the group’s purpose was to offer “choices for women – namely birth, parenting, or adoption” for those facing unexpected pregnancy and possibly be pressured by others to obtain an abortion.
