Government-Funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers Won’t Hire Non-Christians

Apr 25, 2012

We’ve discussed the role of Christian-centered Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) in the war on women’s reproductive health rights. In a new report, The American Independent details how some CPCs funded by the government require prospective employees, volunteers and board members to "know Christ as their Savior and Lord," provide church references or declare that they are "mature Christians" on their applications.

Take Texas, which recently gutted its family planning budget but allocated more than $8 million to its Alternatives to Abortion program. CPCs eligible for that funding seem to discriminate against non-Christian job seekers, reports the Independent:

The Life Center, a crisis pregnancy center in Midland, Texas, is looking for a new receptionist. The receptionist is expected to be bilingual in English and Spanish, proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel, and in agreement with the Life Center’s "Common Christian Beliefs." Typed on each page of the three-page job application is: "The Life Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer" – even on the page that asks for a church reference.

Applicants for the open executive director position at the LifeTalk Resource Center in Frisco, Texas, have to prove they are "mature Christians." The Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center is only hiring "committed Christians."

Each of these centers appears on a list compiled and publicized by the Texas health department of organizations that offer free sonograms to pregnant women and that do not provide abortion services or referrals.

It’s not just state funding either. In South Dakota, the Rapid City Care Net CPC received Obama-era stimulus dollars for "capacity building."