WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch, an organization that exposes and counters efforts to obstruct access to reproductive and maternal health care, released a report revealing how unregulated pregnancy clinics have secured over $510 million in taxpayer funding between 2021-2024 while operating without standard financial oversight or accountability measures.
The report comes after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) expanded its call for state Attorneys General to investigate UPC industry privacy practices and comes as Republican lawmakers’ contradictory and hypocritical public funding approach reaches a new high. While imposing rigorous oversight on social service programs, state legislators in Texas, Ohio, Missouri, and other states have simultaneously funneled hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to UPCs with virtually no accountability requirements. This selective fiscal oversight represents a troubling double standard where ideological priorities receive blank checks while evidence-based healthcare faces defunding.
The report details how these clinics—commonly known as “crisis pregnancy centers”—have strategically targeted state-level funding streams, with nearly $200 million already proposed across seven state legislatures in 2025, alone. The report was featured in today’s States Newsroom Reproductive Rights Today newsletter, highlighting the report’s findings that lawmakers in at least eight states have “considered giving crisis pregnancy centers millions more” in 2025, on top of the “$510 million directly from state legislatures between 2021 and 2024.”
“As Washington slashes funding for essential health and social programs, many state legislators are proposing taxpayer funding for unregulated pregnancy clinics—even in the face of widespread financial mismanagement,” said Debra Rosen, Executive Director of Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch. “While most healthcare providers must adhere to strict reporting and outcome requirements to receive public funding, these unregulated pregnancy clinics are massive beneficiaries of an ideological slush fund—receiving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars with virtually no accountability for how they spend that money or what services they provide. Our findings should alarm every taxpayer, regardless of their position on reproductive rights.”
The report highlights specific examples of financial irregularities across multiple states, including:
- A UPC in Minnesota that spent just 7% of taxpayer funds on client services
- UPCs in Florida charging $150 per hour for unlicensed counseling—five times the rate paid to registered nurses
- A UPC in North Carolina claiming to operate from an empty storefront while collecting state funding
- Massive inconsistencies in reported client numbers, with industry leaders’ claims differing by 571%
RHFW’s report also offers concrete policy solutions, including standardized reporting requirements and mandatory independent financial audits, already introduced in states like North Dakota and North Carolina.
The full report is available here.