Proposed HHS Rule Would Deprive Pregnancy Resource Centers of Federal Funds
A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed rule change would directly target resource pregnancy centers by depriving them of federal funds under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
The TANF program provides federal grants to states which then distribute the funds to organizations that give assistance to “needy” families for childcare, to reduce their dependency on government programs, prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.
The proposed rule change will reportedly give the federal government oversight into which organizations are selected for the funds. The proposal, published on the Federal Register’s website, directly targets pregnancy resource centers, placing the burden on these organizations to prove that they lawfully use federal funds for TANF-approved purposes.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking states that pregnancy centers funded through TANF must “show that the expenditure actually accomplishes the TANF purpose.”
The Christian Post explains, “The proposed changes establish a ‘reasonable person standard’ that requires all funds distributed under the program to support expenditures that a “reasonable person would consider to be within one or more of the enumerated four purposes of the TANF program.” Under this proposed standard, pregnancy resource centers may not qualify for federal assistance, while organizations like Planned Parenthood still receive funds from the HHS to the tune of millions of dollars a year. In 2022, the HHS awarded nearly $13 million to Planned Parenthood and other organizations to “Expand Restore Access to Equitable and Affordable Title X Family Planning Services Nationwide.”
USA Facts found that in “FY2015, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Planned Parenthood received $390 million in federal and state Medicaid reimbursements, making it the nonprofit’s single largest stream of revenue.”
Despite this, the HHS states that programs providing pregnancy counseling to women “only after they become pregnant” likely do not meet the new proposed standards because they do not always prevent or reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
“Programs that only or primarily provide pregnancy counseling to women only after they become pregnant likely do not meet the reasonable person standard because the connection to preventing and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies is tenuous or non-existent, and therefore do not accomplish purpose three. States that provide funding for these types of programs, including through entities sometimes known as crisis pregnancy centers or pregnancy resource centers, must be able to show that the expenditure actually accomplishes the TANF purpose.“
Federal Register – HHS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
The HHS did not provide any evidence to suggest that crisis pregnancy centers are not complying with the current parameters of the TANF, possibly prompting the policy change recommendation.
A large group of lawmakers — 11 U.S. Senators and 18 members of the House of Representatives — authored a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging the department to immediately “withdraw” the proposal.
“The Proposed Rule undermines the TANF program by targeting pregnancy centers and alternatives to abortion programs and threatening to strip them of millions of dollars of funding, depriving pregnant women in need of compassionate assistance for themselves and their unborn babies,” the legislators wrote.
The letter notes that more than 6,400 medical professionals volunteer at pregnancy resource centers around the nation, and these organizations served nearly two million people in 2019 alone. These centers provide sexual risk avoidance training, pregnancy tests, counseling, ultrasounds, and parenting as well as prenatal education (which directly complies with current TANF regulations that require organizations to “Provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives”).
The legislators also noted that “pregnancy centers save taxpayers many millions of dollars through the work they perform for free, through volunteers and donors, reducing the need for services that would otherwise be provided by the government at the expense of taxpayers. The free services and material assistance provided by pregnancy centers had a conservative estimated value of over $266 million in 2019.”
“For decades, pregnancy centers have stood in the gap and generously provided free assistance to women, babies, and families in their moments of need—actions aligned with TANF’s purposes.”
Legislators’ Letter to HHS Secretary
