Critics say abstinence-only group wrong choice for Indiana's $3.5 million

State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said it was sad that the governor was reacting to the national furor over Planned Parenthood by strengthening ties with an agency that is against birth control.

"How do you spend government money and let this group totally dictate a person's lifestyle?" he said.

Pence announced Tuesday he was awarding a $3.5 million contract to Pennsylvania-based Real Alternatives, which had already received $1 million for a pilot project in Indiana.

According to its website, Real Alternatives currently has one social service provider and 14 pregnancy support centers in the northern part of the state, though the website does not provide those locations.

Brown said the contract shows that the governor "is grasping for straws" in a move that appears to be an attempt to solidify his support base but is at the same time alienating Hoosiers.

He called the $3.5 million contract "ridiculous. It's just a means for the state to get around supporting Planned Parenthood. I am sure ultimately it will backfire on him."

The agency, which according to its website also provides state-funded services in Pennsylvania and Michigan, provides pregnancy support; clothing, food and furniture, as well as temporary shelter for pregnant women; abstinence education; and adoption information, among other services.

"I knew there was some talk about him increasing funding for social services with a pro-life and pro-abstinence curve to it," said Donna Golob, executive director of Valparaiso-based A Positive Approach to Teen Health, or PATH. "We would be supportive of that based on what we do."

PATH focuses its educational efforts on middle schoolers but also has some programs for students in late elementary and high school, said Golob, who added she wasn't completely familiar with Pence's initiative. PATH provides programs in 23 school corporations in seven counties.

The agency provides programing to help teens make decisions that steer away from risky behavior. Sex education "is just part of what we do, but it definitely comes from an abstinence perspective," she said.

Brown also noted that Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, or PPINK, was not involved in the allegations that created the nationwide furor against the organization.

"We are extremely disappointed in Gov. Mike Pence's decision to award a $3.5 million-dollar contract to Real Alternatives, an out of state, anti-choice organization that advocates abstinence-only sex education and does not offer information or referrals for birth control services," Patti Stauffer, vice president of public policy with PPINK, said in an email.

Nearly 50 percent of Indiana pregnancies are unintended, she said, and abstinence-only education excludes important information that helps Hoosiers make sound, age-appropriate choices when it comes to sexual health. A study in the 2008 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teens who received comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to experience pregnancy than those who received abstinence-only education, she added.

Kayla Greenwell, 23, of St. John, recently coordinated a "Pink Out" Day in front of PPINK's Hammond clinic to protest the U.S. House of Representatives' funding cut threat to the organization. She believes the governor made the decision using his "own personal ethics," not what's best for women.

"It frightens me, because although there is nothing wrong with choosing abstinence, there is no statistical evidence that it has ever worked," she said. "I am all for women not having to have abortions, but people don't realize that most women don't want abortions like they want a nice shirt or a warm dinner. They want it like an animal wants to escape a trap. So we should work to get these girls educated, and out of a situation where they would ever have to make that choice. Prevent it. Prevent it with something that is proven to work."

Freelance writer Michelle Quinn contributed to this report.