The Lepanto Institute has published a new report claiming that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has given $805,000 to the United Workers Association (UWA), a Baltimore-based organization that, according to the institute, co-founded a pro-abortion healthcare coalition. The figure appears in the statement released on November 9 by the Virginia-based institute, which adds that the funds come from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the bishops’ national anti-poverty program.
According to the Lepanto Institute, the UWA has received 17 CCHD grants since 2004, the most recent being $45,000 for the 2025-2026 period. The institute stresses that the campaign has continued to fund the group despite claiming to have a “robust vetting process” for its beneficiaries.
A coalition created in 2012
The report states that in 2012 the UWA co-founded Healthcare is a Human Right – Maryland (HHR-MD). According to the Lepanto Institute, the group has called the inclusion of abortion coverage in “Medicare for All” proposals an “enormous victory,” has demanded such coverage in Medicare, and has praised legislation to repeal the Hyde Amendment, the rule that for decades has banned federal funding of abortion.
“The CCHD claims it prohibits beneficiaries from joining coalitions that act against Catholic moral doctrine,” said Michael Hichborn, president of the institute. “In this case, the UWA did not merely join one. It created and funded it.”
More than half a million dollars to another group
The UWA is also the fiscal sponsor of Put People First – PA (PPF-PA) and is listed as the administrator of the group’s Facebook page. According to the institute, the UWA’s own tax filings show $584,307 sent to PPF-PA between 2020 and 2022. The Lepanto Institute attributes to that group participation in a march supporting Planned Parenthood, publication of an article defending abortion, celebration of the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina, and regret that Medicaid expansion excluded abortion.
“The UWA’s tax returns show more than half a million dollars going to a group that took to the streets for Planned Parenthood,” Hichborn said. “Either the CCHD never looked, or it looked and didn’t care.”
“Gender-affirming” care and other positions
The report adds that in March 2025 the UWA itself urged its members to oppose Medicaid cuts affecting “gender-affirming” care, and that it had previously supported so-called same-sex marriage. Likewise, PPF-PA co-organized a 2023 event titled “Trans Healthcare Is a Human Right,” and in 2020 the UWA called for defunding the Baltimore police.
Hichborn maintained that the CCHD claims it “never” funds organizations that act against the Church’s moral or social teachings, yet in this case a funded group demanded taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries, supported “homosexual marriage,” and founded a pro-abortion healthcare coalition. “Either the CCHD is lying, or it is incapable of performing the due diligence it claims,” he added.
The Lepanto Institute is calling on the bishops to withdraw from the CCHD collection and to close it in their own dioceses. This outlet has previously reported on earlier institute reports about the campaign, including one that denounced that nearly one million dollars in Catholic funds financed organizations that promote abortion and sex-change surgeries.