This week we are tracking two developments regarding the unregulated pregnancy clinic (UPC) industry:
First, a joint report from ProPublica and CBS News revealed that taxpayer-funded unregulated pregnancy clinics in Texas are “riddled with waste.” Of the 21 states that have funded the UPC industry, Texas has, by some margin, spent the most. Texas lawmakers have poured tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into unregulated pregnancy clinics, which receive little oversight. UPC industry funding in Texas has skyrocketed dramatically in recent years with unlicensed pregnancy centers receiving nearly $140 million in taxpayer dollars in the 2024-25 budget bill compared to $5 million in 2005.
Despite this influx of taxpayer dollars, there is opacity surrounding the efficacy of Texas’s investments in unregulated pregnancy clinics. This most recent investigation exposed unregulated pregnancy clinics inflating the values of their services–examples include clinics billing taxpayers $14 for diapers that were donated to the clinic free of charge and charging taxpayers $14 for handing out pamphlets touting their services. Samuel Brunson, an expert in tax and nonprofit organizations at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, criticized Texas for redistributing taxpayer money to unregulated pregnancy clinics.
Second, advocates for incorporating a national abortion ban into the Republican Party platform emphasized the pivotal role of unregulated pregnancy clinics as a primary justification. Republicans received widespread condemnation from anti-choice groups for omitting a federal abortion ban in their proposed party platform ahead of the Republican National Convention next week. Before this decision was made, former Republican congressman Tim Huelskamp (part of the RNC platform committee and leader of a Kansas organization also exposed for wasting taxpayer dollars appropriated to Kansas UPCs), penned an op-ed in Newsweek arguing that Republicans must not show signs they are retreating on abortion. One of his key arguments is that unregulated pregnancy clinics are “heroic organizations, which save the communities they serve millions of dollars annually.” This, of course, is undercut by reporting such as the ProPublica and CBS News analysis as well other reporting over the years.
Huelskamp’s emphasis on unregulated pregnancy clinics in the ongoing battle over abortion rights is significant, as it underscores the anti-abortion movement’s view of these clinics as essential infrastructure for spreading their message. In short, the movement aims to highlight the services these clinics claim to provide to justify their draconian abortion policies.
Read more coverage below:
Texas sends millions of taxpayer dollars to unregulated pregnancy clinics, but the system is riddled with waste with few safeguards. A joint investigation between ProPublica and CBS News found that Texas has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to unlicensed pregnancy clinics, despite the fact that the state commission overseeing the program doesn’t know “the specifics of how tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent or whether that money is addressing families’ needs.” Recent polling shows that voters support oversight and regulation of unregulated pregnancy clinics.
- Jezebel: Texas Gave Anti-Abortion Centers $5 Million in 2005. The Budget’s Since Ballooned to $140 Million. “In 2005, the state allocated $5 million to its Alternatives to Abortion program, which has since been renamed Thriving Texas Families—today, the program receives $140 million. The program, which is run by four contractors, is ‘supposed to promote pregnancies, encourage family formation, and increase economic self-sufficiency,’ per ProPublica. The contractors distribute the funding to subcontractors operating CPCs across the state. But there’s no transparency around what these millions are paying for, and CPCs can charge the state $14 for every single anti-abortion pamphlet they distribute. They can also charge the state $14 for distributing a single pack of diapers—even if the CPC obtained those diapers free of cost from a diaper bank.” [Jezebel, 7/9/24]
Former Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp wrote in an op-ed praising unregulated pregnancy clinics for offering women “real, tangible choices.” This comes after the RNC released a new platform that sends most abortion-related issues to the states and doesn’t call for a federal abortion ban.