By Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director, Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
Some pregnant women in Pennsylvania could be homeless this winter, if Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro gets his way.
Shapiro has threatened to cancel the contract of Real Alternatives, which runs Pennsylvania’s award-winning pregnancy and parenting support services program. In addition to funding pregnancy resource centers and adoption agencies, the program funds maternity homes—a haven from homelessness for a number of Pennsylvania women.
The dire situation could be entirely avoidable, if the Governor would extend a new contract to Real Alternatives. In denying state funding to the organization, he is leaving pregnant women without the vital services they need.
More than 350,000 women have been served by the program over its 27-year history. In fact, the program has become a model for the rest of the nation, and has enjoyed bipartisan support over the years.
Legislators voted to award the program an additional two million dollars, upping the total funding to more than eight million. But in a classic bait-and-switch, the Governor announced he planned to use that money to fund an entirely different program. It is not clear whether the Governor’s threatened action to pull the plug on the program is constitutional.
It is important for people to make their voices heard—to let their state representatives and state senators know they stand with Real Alternatives. To send an immediate message to your lawmaker, click here (https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=18824 ).