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Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch

Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch Update

We’re tracking a few new Unregulated Pregnancy Clinic industry developments: 

1. Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch released new research revealing state legislatures appropriated more than $500M in taxpayer dollars for unregulated pregnancy clinics (UPCs, also known as crisis pregnancy centers or CPCs) between 2021 and mid-2024. Combined private/public funding for UPCs overall increased by 30% from 2019 to 2022 – from $1 billion to $1.4 billion, annually.

RHFW also found that states providing funding to UPCs exhibit some of the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality.

  • From the Independent: “States that fund so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ where pregnant patients are dissuaded from seeking abortions have some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the US, according to a new report from a reproductive health watchdog group. The ‘unregulated pregnancy clinic’ industry — which encompasses roughly 2,500 to 4,000 sites in all 50 states, most of which are affiliated with anti-abortion groups — is increasingly funded by state legislatures that allocate taxpayer dollars to support them, according to Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch.”

2. The “Kids Online Safety Act” (KOSA) passed the Senate, despite opposition from anti-choice actors who claimed the bill would unfairly target anti-choice groups, including unregulated pregnancy clinics, by preventing them from using the data they collect from women seeking their services. One of those groups, Students for Life, claimed that the bill would target anti-choice messengers as well.

  • According to NBC News, here’s what the bill actually does: “KOSA would require social media companies to better protect users under age 17. It also would require companies to provide guardians with more control over minors’ use of a platform and prevent certain features, such as autoplay. And it would require companies to give users dedicated pages on which to report harmful content.”

This opposition is similar to the American Privacy Rights Act (or APRA), a markup for which was canceled last minute in the House of Representatives after anti-choice groups registered their opposition along similar lines. KOSA will now go to the House, where it is expected to face similar opposition. Read RHFW’s interested parties memo on APRA.

In other UPC industry news…