Documents reviewed by Rewire News Group suggest the total may have been closer $1 billion. Where is all that "crisis pregnancy center" money going?

“Crisis pregnancy centers,” or anti-abortion centers, are known for deceiving and manipulating people seeking information about abortion. They often pose as legitimate abortion clinics, intentionally obscuring their real purpose. They promote dangerous medical misinformation such as abortion pill “reversal.” They also discourage safer sex practices, and because few of them are actual medical facilities, they don’t adhere to medical standards for confidentiality and safety.

For example, a Massachusetts woman sued a CPC in June for failing to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy, which resulted in an emergency surgery and the loss of her fallopian tube. Months earlier, a Kentucky nurse came forward to reveal that a CPC where she had volunteered was failing to properly sterilize its transvaginal ultrasound equipment.

And CPCs’ activities are increasingly being bankrolled by the government. At least 18 states have funded them at some point. Since 2010, 13 of those states have given CPCs about $495 million. If you don’t see your state on the list, that doesn’t mean your tax dollars haven’t contributed: Many states use federal funds from programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to support CPCs.

However, awareness of the harms that CPCs cause is on the rise. As a result, at least two states have cut off their flow of public funding. Twice, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has used line item vetoes to do so. In Pennsylvania, which became the first known state to fund CPCs in 1995, Gov. Josh Shapiro finally put an end to the practice this month.

But these reforms can only go so far. While taxpayer money has certainly been a boon for CPCs, many of them still get the majority of their funds from private donors. In fact, according to a 2020 report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion organization, “at least 90 percent of total funding for centers is raised through private donations.”

The lack of transparency in private philanthropy makes it difficult to know who is funding anti-abortion centers, and what their money is used for. And we’re talking about a lot of money. Financial records reviewed by Rewire News Group indicate that nationwide, CPCs could be receiving and spending more than $1 billion per year.

On what, exactly?