Gov. Josh Shapiro has announced he is ending Real Alternatives, a statewide program that provides assistance to struggling pregnant women who want to carry their baby to term.
The program was started a quarter-century ago under Gov. Bob Casey Sr., a pro-life Democrat, and has been left untouched in the heavily Catholic state until Shapiro was elected last year on a pro-abortion platform.
Maria Gallagher of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation says Shapiro’s “outrageous” decision affects thousands of women in the state.
“Nearly 350,000 Pennsylvania women have been served by the program,” she advises, “which has become a model for the rest of the nation.”
After he campaigned on “reproductive health” during the 2022 gubernatorial race, Shapiro met with Planned Parenthood executives during his first week in public office after the abortion group’s PAC endorsed him and spent PAC money to support him. Planned Parenthood had previously spent $1.25 million in 2020 to support Shapiro’s re-election to state attorney general.
Now that Planned Parenthood is eliminating its baby-saving competition, Gallagher says worried expectant mothers won’t get the care from the abortion provider they received from Real Alternatives.
“They may be without housing or sufficient food, or sufficient health care,” she says, “and Real Alternatives provides them with comprehensive counseling and assistance.”
