Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, introduces a resolution honoring pregnancy care centers on March 10, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
A legislative resolution recognizing pregnancy care centers attracted little attention on Monday, despite the controversial history surrounding the anti-abortion practices of some organizations.
Author Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, characterized the facilities as staffed by volunteers that “help guide women in the direction … they need to go.”
Due to the unregulated space, these non-medical entities go by many names, including: pregnancy care centers, crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers.
Just one person, licensed OBGYN Amy Caldwell, testified on the measure. She opposed the supporting language, alleging deceptive practices, harassment and misinformation — dubbing them “coercive” pregnancy centers.
“They not only break confidentiality and have no reason to actually protect women’s privacy, they also don’t provide comprehensive or accurate information when it comes to pregnancy,” said Caldwell, who provides reproductive health care procedures like abortion. “They propagate misinformation, which is an ethical violation of medical standards.”
Only Sen. J.D. Ford, an Indianapolis Democrat, spoke on the bill — urging the committee to adopt language that would instead regulate these centers and questioning whether the organizations abide by medical privacy laws.
After just over 13 minutes, during which Caldwell and Ford spoke the majority of the time, the Senate Family and Children Services Committee advanced the resolution on a 6-2 vote along party lines.
What are pregnancy care centers?
Senate Concurrent Resolution 24 asserts that “the Indiana General Assembly strongly supports pregnancy care centers in their unique, positive contributions to the individual lives of women, men, and babies — both born and unborn.”
The recognition also included an appeal to federal and state agencies to support these organizations, which largely run on donations and volunteers, “in a manner that does not compromise the mission or religious integrity of these organizations.”
Raatz’s resolution claims there are more than 2,500 such centers nationwide, offering resources such as pregnancy tests, peer counseling, parenting classes, prenatal information, ultrasounds and referrals to other services. However, some centers have been criticized for misrepresenting themselves as medical facilities, despite offering little-to-no health services.
Caldwell’s testimony on such centers contradicted the resolution, which said that the organizations provided “complete and accurate information regarding (a woman’s) pregnancy options…”
“They spread lies about sexual health, including sexually transmitted infections, and … pregnancy versus abortion care,” Caldwell said. “I’ve had several patients who have come to me presenting with an ultrasound where they think that they received actual medical care and they did not. They’re well into their second trimester (but) they haven’t been taking the appropriate medications and they haven’t had the appropriate screenings. They’re not plugged into those resources.
“So despite what the centers may or may not be doing to try to inform patients, they are not actually receiving care,” Caldwell continued.
Several studies have found that patients at some centers nationwide have been told “untrue information,” as detailed by The 19th*, such as false claims about abortion’s side effects.
Though Raatz assured the committee that the non-medical institutions honored confidentiality, Caldwell said that wasn’t her experience.
Several of her patients, she said, “have had … spouses or friends contacted by these centers to harass (the women) into making certain decisions about their pregnancy.”
Real Alternatives
The Crisis Pregnancy Center Map estimates that Indiana has 96 such centers, but one pass-through entity stood out in testimony.
State likely to continue funding Real Alternatives despite questions over spending
In conjunction with its 2022 near-total abortion ban, Indiana increased state funds for Real Alternatives, an anti-abortion organization which offers the state “potential savings” of $210 million by referring clients to prenatal care.
While the lack of access to prenatal care is a troubling indicator of maternal mortality, the current Republican-supported version of the budget cuts funding for the local public health departments that offer such services.
The current fiscal year has a $4 million appropriation for Real Alternatives. Gov. Mike Braun’s proposed budget maintained the taxpayer dollars despite moves to cut other programs and agency budgets and the House-passed budget followed suit. Braun’s office didn’t respond to a Friday email seeking comment.
In her testimony, Caldwell criticized tax dollars dedicated to Real Alternatives by pointing to its fall “ultimate tailgate” fundraiser, which was advertised as having “ice cold Jack Daniels” and “ladies from Twin Peaks,” an adult restaurant.
Caldwell said issues for Real Alternatives weren’t limited to ethics but also “widespread misuse of funds.” Both Pennsylvania and Michigan have scrutinized the organization’s funding, including millions of taxpayer dollars that were used to fund operations in other states. Michigan no longer spends dollars with Real Alternatives.
An early 2024 report from Equity Forward, a longtime critic of Real Alternatives, analyzed more than 400 pages of state contracts with the organization and questioned their spending, which is paid through the state’s federal allotment of dollars from its Temporary Assistance to Needy Families fund.
In particular, Equity Forward criticized the organization for reporting that over half of its visits were spent on health “counseling,” such as fetal and pregnancy development, despite “almost never” being staffed by medical professionals.
“Taxpayer funding supporting this dynamic – which has little to no regulation due to lacking medical provider status – should be of great concern,” the organization concludes.
Indiana’s Planned Parenthood chapter shared a May 2024 “Our Choice Coalition” survey that found 72% of respondents opposed taxpayer dollars going to “anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers, even though 56% of those surveyed supported the organizations.
“Senate Concurrent Resolution 24 isn’t what Hoosiers need or want. We urge lawmakers to heed the majority who oppose using tax dollars for anti-abortion ‘crisis pregnancy centers.’ With every dollar crucial—especially for families with low incomes—it’s unconscionable to fund organizations plagued by financial and ethical concerns and aren’t often staffed by trained medical providers,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement.
“The millions funneled into anti-abortion propaganda machines should instead fund genuine, comprehensive health care—like community clinics, hospitals, and reproductive health centers—offering high-quality, medically accurate care. By supporting legitimate providers, Indiana ensures every dollar is used ethically and effectively to protect the health of all Hoosiers.”
But not all Hoosiers oppose state spending with pregnancy care centers.
Indiana Right to Life launched an Amazon-backed “baby registry” in December, encouraging residents to directly donate items and funding to the “more than 100” centers in Indiana.
“Too often we wait for government to be the solution, and until programs like Real Alternatives came along to walk beside our (pregnancy resource centers), many of these centers relied fully on the good will and generosity of their communities and churches for decades to be the resources to support moms and babies,” said Mike Fichter, the organization’s president and CEO, in a December release.
Fichter didn’t expand on Real Alternatives further in the release, nor did he mention the state’s funding for the organization.
Real Alternatives didn’t respond to a Monday request for comment.
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