Gwinnett faces debate over funding faith-based pregnancy center
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Reproductive rights advocates do not want Gwinnett County commissioners to allocate nearly half a million dollars in public funding to a faith-based nonprofit that steers pregnant people from abortion.
Driving the news: Gwinnett will have a public hearing Wednesday on a proposed federal funding package for area nonprofits, including the Georgia Wellness Group.
Zoom in: Georgia Wellness Group (GWG) has a 12,560-square-foot facility in Gwinnett offering pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STI screening and mental health services.
- Registered in 2014 as the Pregnancy Resource Center of Gwinnett, GWG was most recently an affiliate of nonprofit crisis pregnancy centers called Obria, CEO Robin Mauck told Axios.
- Obria and the PRCG have served more than 26,000 people since 2006, she said.
By the numbers: $400,000 of the county's federal grant funding would support a "maternity home" for pregnant women in crisis. The remaining $50,000 would fund pediatric and behavioral and mental health care, county documents show.
- Mauck said the center would include an OBGYN, registered nurses, certified medical assistants and sonographers and abide by HIPAA privacy laws.
Yes, but: Crisis pregnancy centers do not offer abortion services or referrals. Critics say the centers target underserved people, prioritize ideology over science and delay access to abortion.
Context: Georgia law bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected — often before people realize they are pregnant.
What they're saying: Georgia state Rep. Marvin Lim (D-Norcross) told Axios he thinks crisis pregnancy centers mislead the public, especially vulnerable communities, by presenting themselves as unbiased reproductive health clinics.
- Lim, who is also opposed to the funding award, said Gwinnett and Georgia should focus limited federal funding on other groups to address the state's maternal health deserts and high rates of maternal mortality.
State of play: In an advocacy guide for supporters, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW called on county officials to instead back "evidence-based, real healthcare, not fake clinics with a religious and anti-abortion agenda."
What's next: The hearing is scheduled for 10am at Gwinnett's county offices in Lawrenceville and will be livestreamed.
- Public comments on the funding plan close Aug. 4 at 5pm; the Board of Commissioners could vote on Aug. 5.