(WASHINGTON STAND) – Pennsylvania’s governor is partnering with Planned Parenthood to defund pregnancy resource centers. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed a new state budget on Thursday, which includes terminating a contract with Real Alternatives, a nonprofit organization responsible for running the state’s Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services. Shapiro said of the targeted budget cut, “For decades, taxpayer dollars have gone to fund Real Alternatives. My administration will not continue that pattern — we will ensure women in this Commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve.”
Planned Parenthood was quick to release a statement lauding the governor’s decision. Planned Parenthood P.A. Advocates executive director Signe Espinoza called the new budget decision “an enormous win for every Pennsylvanian,” continuing to say that “we all deserve access to the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care, and yes that means abortion too.”
Not satisfied with siphoning Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars to commit abortions, Planned Parenthood previously called on Shapiro to defund pregnancy resource centers earlier this year. According to P.A. Family, Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania received nearly $4 million in state funding between 2013 and 2016, largely under the tenure of former governor Tom Wolf, a radical pro-abortion activist. Last year, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Wolf signed an executive order to “protect” abortions in the Keystone state and announced Pennsylvania would not cooperate with states where pro-life laws required an individual in Pennsylvania to be arrested for violating the law. Wolf also sued his own state’s duly-elected legislature to prevent lawmakers from introducing a ballot initiative to constitutionally outlaw abortion in Pennsylvania.
