Pregnant Pause: Taxpayer funding for abortion ‘counseling’ subsidizes fundamentalist religion

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/04/01/pregnant-pause-taxpayer-funding-for-abortion-%E2%80%98counseling%E2%80%99-subsidizes-fundamentalist-religion/

South Dakota legislators recently passed a controversial law placing new restrictions on abortion. A three-day waiting period (the longest in the nation) has drawn the most attention, but another provision is problematic from a church-state perspective. It requires any woman seeking an abortion to first undergo “counseling” at a “crisis pregnancy center.”

“Crisis pregnancy center” may sound benign, but these places are essentially just centers for fundamentalist Christian/Roman Catholic anti-abortion activism. Far from getting “counseling,” women who visit such centers are pressured not to get abortions and usually subjected to religious proselytizing to boot.

Incredibly, these facilities get taxpayer funds in some states. Texas, for example, has been pouring tax money into them for six years. The centers are not supposed to promote religion, but as the Texas Independent reported recently, many do.

The online publication noted that Austin LifeCare, a center in Travis County, “was found to have failed to label and separate its spiritual materials from its education materials. Plus, during a recent informational training session – attended by a Texas Independent reporter who identified herself beforehand as a journalist – ALC instructors inundated potential volunteers with overt religious references.”

More at the link --