Millions Funneled To Rural Pregnancy Centers That Promote Religion, False Information
Federally funded “pregnancy resource centers” throughout the country are receiving millions in taxpayer dollars despite promoting religious content and disseminating what critics say is misleading medical information. Despite reservations from some in Congress, nearly $6 million in grants have been given to 21 pregnancy centers since the beginning of 2006, according to new data obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Many of these centers are receiving far more federal funding then they seemingly could need. The Northern Hill Pregnancy Care Center in Spearfish, South Dakota, for example, has been granted more than $630,000 over three years despite seeing only 110 to 150 new clients per year. The Door of Hope Pregnancy Care Center in Madisonville, Kentucky, was given more than $300,000 in federal grants over the last two years, even though the entire female population of the town (all ages) is less than 11,000. First Choice Pregnancy Center in Texarkana, Texas, meanwhile, sees between 800 and 1,000 patients annually. For that, the center has been granted more than $1.3 million over three years - an average of approximately $500 per person per year.
Well, no one ever said that proselytizing and pushing an anti-choice, Right-wing agenda on unsuspecting and vulnerable women was going to be cheap, did they? No, apparently not…though few reasonable folks would ever have assumed that lying, intimidation, and propagandinzing would ever be this expensive.
Of course, there are those who say that no amount of money is too much if it saves a baby or brings someone to Jesus. That’s all well and good if privated donations bring this to fruition, but is this sort of thing really what our tax dollars should be spent on? Does the term “separation of church and state” mean nothing anymore? Given the growing number of Dominionist theocrats currently infecting the federal government at all levels, we may all soon be forced to turn to the Bible for guidance whether we want to or not.
What most disturbs me about the lies and decpetion behind these tactics are…well, the lies and deception. Oh, and the massive amount of tax dollars being directed to the holier-than-thou sorts who think they’re doing the Lord’s work and are therefore immune to federal law. That they’re doing it on the public dime seems to bother them a whit…if they even think about it at all.
We can’t feed the poor, properly educate our children, or ensure that all Americans have access to quality health care. We CAN fund and endless war in Iraq AND the ongoing effort by Right-wing, intolerant religious nutjobs to harrass women out of dealing with reproductive health issues as they deem appropriate. Oh, and if they can bring a woman to Jesus while they’re at it, so much the better.
What Would Jesus Do? I think He’d be kicking some serious ass….
