Florida Democrat Kelly Skidmore has, for the second year in a row, filed a bill (HB 6001) that seeks to abolish a controversial program, funded by taxpayers, that promotes alternatives to abortion for people in Florida who are pregnant.
The state’s “Pregnancy and Wellness Services” program, also described as an “alternatives to abortion” program, was first established by Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 as an explicit attempt to deter women from seeking abortions.
Although it started out with a budget of just about $2 million, its budget has ballooned under “pro-life” Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has signed into law measures to restrict abortion access.
Since 2022, the program’s budget has increased more than fivefold, from $4.45 million in 2022 to nearly $30 million in this year’s budget. Rep. Skidmore, a legislator from the Boca Raton area, says it’s time to cut out some of the bloat.
“I believe that if you’re going to DOGE our counties and our cities, then start in your own house,” Skidmore told Orlando Weekly, referring to a “government efficiency” initiative launched by DeSantis earlier this year that seeks to eliminate wasteful spending from the state government.
While the mission of Florida’s anti-abortion program includes encouraging options such as adoption and parenting, it also funnels millions of dollars each year into unregulated pregnancy resource centers, often run by religious groups or charities, that systematically pose as licensed health clinics and use deceptive tactics to lure women in who are seeking actual abortion care.
“Taxpayer dollars must not be used to prop up centers that operate like clinics in name only, with guidance that discourages appropriate medical evaluation,” Skidmore said in a statement. “HB 6001 would allow us to redirect state dollars to evidence-based healthcare programs that provide a full range of reproductive care, including prenatal, postnatal and family planning services.”
A booming industry
Florida’s anti-abortion program, similar to taxpayer-funded programs operating in more than a dozen states, is operated by the Florida Pregnancy Care Network. The not-for-profit group contracts with the state Department of Health and subsequently divvies out state funds received through that contract to dozens of anti-abortion organizations across Florida.
While these anti-abortion centers don’t offer abortion care, they often promote services such as free pregnancy tests, free STI testing and ultrasounds — even if they don’t have licensed medical personnel on staff or have a license to provide medical care.
They also often claim to offer “confidential” care, even though — because they aren’t regulated as medical clinics — they in fact do not have to abide by patient privacy protections under federal HIPAA.
Take Apopka Pregnancy Center, for instance: a facility in Central Florida that received $76,000 from Florida’s state-funded anti-abortion program last year. State records show the facility, described as “Christian-based” and “life-affirming,” does not have any kind of medical license.
But it does offer free pregnancy tests, “options counseling” and “post abortion support,” according to its website. The site states that the facility does not perform abortions, nor do they refer people to actual, licensed abortion clinics.
Many of these facilities, in Florida and elsewhere, have been accused of using manipulative tactics to lure in pregnant people (particularly low-income women with fewer resources) and shaming or tricking them into carrying their pregnancy to term — sometimes by lying about how far along a pregnancy is, sometimes by falsely claiming abortion increases the risk for developing certain types of cancer.
“I think that every taxpayer should be outraged that we’re spending $29 million on these centers that don’t provide medically accurate information,” Skidmore argued.
The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), a “life-affirming” group that provides legal counsel to these anti-abortion centers, reportedly told its member facilities to avoid performing ultrasounds on people they suspected could have an ectopic pregnancy — a potentially life-threatening condition.
As NBC News reported in June, the warning came in the wake of a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts that accused a crisis pregnancy center of failing to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy, resulting in life-threatening complications for its client.
“Pregnant people seeking confirmation of pregnancy, answers to questions, and decision-making support may seek care at a CPC without realizing that the information they receive is intended to discourage them from abortion,” a brief from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states. “This can delay their ability to seek nonjudgmental, compassionate, respectful care from a health care professional, whether or not they ultimately decide to continue their pregnancy.”
Even before the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, these anti-abortion pregnancy centers outnumbered actual abortion clinics in the U.S. more than 3 to 1. In Florida, where abortion is banned after six weeks of pregnancy, there are 49 licensed abortion clinics, compared to an estimated 161 anti-abortion centers.
According to the Crisis Pregnancy Center Map, a project led by a group of public health researchers at the University of Georgia, Florida has the second-highest number of these anti-abortion centers in the U.S. It’s an industry that has boomed since the fall of Roe, according to 19th News, which reported last year that states have increased anti-abortion center funding by more than $500 million.
State and local governments in Florida, meanwhile, are forbidden from providing taxpayer funds to actual abortion providers. Florida also requires pregnant people to attend at least two appointments with an abortion provider in order to legally get the procedure, and largely restricts minors from getting an abortion without parental consent.
‘I’ll never stop trying’
Rep. Skidmore, who says she’s advocated for the abolition of this program since it was first established, similarly filed legislation last year that aimed to strengthen regulation of these anti-abortion centers that receive state funds (since not all of these facilities do). The bill, however, was predictably ignored by Florida’s Republican-controlled state Legislature when they met this spring and ultimately died without getting even an initial hearing.
This is the first time Skidmore has proposed getting rid of the $30 million program altogether. It comes after the operator of the program, the Florida Pregnancy Care Network, reportedly spent $5 million in taxpayer funds last year on ads that downplayed the negative impact of Florida’s six-week abortion ban.
The ads, notably, aired ahead of a critical election in which Florida voters were given the chance to vote for or against a ballot initiative that sought to strengthen abortion rights in Florida. Although the measure, Amendment 4, got a 57 percent vote of support from voters, it didn’t surpass the minimum 60 percent threshold that’s needed for a ballot measure in Florida to pass.
The state Department of Health reportedly tried to pressure the anti-abortion nonprofit into airing negative ads about Amendment 4, but according to the Tampa Bay Times, the nonprofit refused — choosing instead to run more “neutral” ads. Shortly after that, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis submitted a budget proposal that would have similarly nixed the nonprofit’s contract with the state.
“I do think he had ulterior motives,” Skidmore told the Weekly. “But that should show some conservatives and Republicans who are moderates that there is an opportunity here that we haven’t had before.”
Skidmore’s bill, in order to pass, would need to garner the support of a fair number of Republicans in the state Legislature. Although the likelihood of its passage is unlikely — considering the GOP majority’s willingness to restrict abortion access already — Skidmore asserts that she’s not ready to give up the fight. “I’ve never stopped trying, and I will continue until I’m no longer there,” she said.
Republicans, she added, “are supposed to be the fiscally conservative folks in the room, so they should be more than willing to support something that would save the state $29 million. Because it should not be a state-supported function.”
If approved by the Florida Legislature, Skidmore’s new bill would take effect July 1, 2026. If you have thoughts for or against this legislation, find and contact your state legislator here.
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