Available funding for pregnancy resource centers in Ohio has more than doubled for the next two years.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed the state’s budget in late June, allocating $14 million for the Department of Job and Family Services’ Parenting and Pregnancy Program, which distributes grants to nonprofits that assist families, moms, and babies — including pregnancy resource centers, WDNT reported.
The state’s new budget for pregnancy resource centers is up by $8 million.
Services provided by pregnancy resource centers include offering pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, clothing and baby supplies, as well as referrals, medical support, maternity housing, and state assistance programs. Their mission is to encourage women to choose life for their child.
“The majority of women who have abortions report that they did it because they lacked resources and they lacked community,” Beth Vanderkooi, executive director of the Greater Columbus Right to Life, told NBC 4. “They’re alone – they don’t have a partner; they don’t have a family; they don’t have that support. Pregnancy centers are there to walk with women.”
The move comes as the state’s six week abortion ban has been blocked by a judge since October.
With more than 200 pregnancy resource centers across the state, a 2021 study by Ohio State University found one in seven women of reproductive age have visited a pregnancy resource center.
However, many on the left mischaracterize pregnancy resource centers as “fake clinics” that “spread misinformation.”
State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D) called this budget appropriation meant to help women “unfortunate.”
“It’s unfortunate that we are spending quite significantly – any public money – towards health care that is not trusting women to make their own decisions and get all of the information that they need,” Sweeney said.
Other states have even gone as far as to ban funding for pregnancy resource centers. In April, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed “$2 million in state funding into a program to promote childbirth for unplanned pregnancies,” the Kansas Reflector reported.
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