The Senate budget proposal passed last week, controversial for cuts to Medicaid services and education, includes a $50,000 boost in funding to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers diverted from the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant.

Although frequently advertised as comprehensive medical centers, the majority of crisis pregnancy centers are not medically licensed. CPCs do not offer abortion services or birth control, and many counsel their patients with medically inaccurate information about both. Because CPCs are generally not licensed, they are not held to the same regulations as actual clinics.

Chris Fitsimon at NC Policy Watch has the numbers on the more than 120 crisis pregnancy centers operating in North Carolina:

30—percentage of crisis pregnancy centers that may receive state funding that perform provide ultrasounds. (Ibid) 22—percentage of crisis pregnancy centers that may receive state funding that inaccurately claimed that abortion causes breast cancer. (Ibid) 26—percentage of crisis pregnancy centers that may receive state funding that engaged in deceptive advertising in phonebooks, internet sites and college newspapers. (Ibid) 48—percentage of crisis pregnancy prevention centers at which staff members told women seeking family planning services in 2011 that none of the common methods of birth control are effective at preventing pregnancy. (Ibid) Read the rest at NC Policy Watch. “Senator Berger’s priorities couldn’t be more out of touch. Instead of increasing access to health care by expanding Medicaid and creating jobs for working families, Berger and the extreme majority are funneling 300,000 taxpayer dollars to groups that block women from making fully informed decisions about their own reproductive health,” Suzanne Buckley, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina said in a statement. “Regardless of how a person feels about legal abortion, we can all agree that no one should ever be misled when seeking medical care and information.” Here’s the budget provision: Read NARAL’s investigation of crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina here. Update 6/10: House budget plan also includes the funding increase for crisis pregnancy centers: Related stories:

Senate OKs $21.2B budget proposal