North Carolina Senate Wants to Give $250K to Crisis Pregnancy Centers

The Hyde amendment bans federal funding of abortion. But the North Carolina Senate sees no problem with bestowing $250,000 worth of state funding to an umbrella group of faith-based anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers that disseminate dubious medical information to vulnerable young women. Get ready for a deluge of super creepy misleading fetus dolls!

There are eight times as many crisis pregnancy centers as abortion clinics in North Carolina, according to the News Observer. The umbrella group in question, Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, said in 2011 that its centers “work hard to provide factual, impartial help to teenagers and women who are conflicted about their pregnancies.” But NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina investigations found that the vast majority of the non-profit clinics aren’t really legitimate women’s health centers and never provide or even refer for abortions and contraception. Instead, they’re purposefully vague about the real services they offer (and the real intentions behind those services) so they can lure pregnant women in with promises of free care.

The umbrella group almost got a ton of money from the purchase of “Choose Life” license plates the legislature approved in 2011 until a federal judge pointed out that the state didn’t offer plates with alternate viewpoints. What’s the difference this time around, besides the absence of icky-cheesy car accessories?

“Our lawmakers have a responsibility to protect women and families in our state by supporting programs that offer comprehensive, unbiased reproductive-health information,” said Suzanne Buckley, executive director of the state chapter, in a statement. “Crisis pregnancy centers do the opposite.”

Here’s hoping they waste all that money on some much-needed web design (see above).