A local church has called for its parishioners to stop donating to the Centre County United Way because church leaders see the agency as having a political agenda that goes against the church's pro-life stand.

Our Lady of Victory -- a Catholic church with one of the largest congregations in the area -- distributed a flier asking its 1,800 members to bypass the United Way and give directly to local charities, because the agency denied funds to the Centre Region Crisis Pregnancy Center but continued to give money to the Women's Resource Center.

"We thought that was a little unfair," said Robert Means, president of the Our Lady of Victory parish council.

Both the crisis center and the Women's Resource Center offer help to area women, but the crisis center advertises itself as a "Christian organization." Although it provides abortion counseling, it does not refer women to abortion clinics, said Barry Kroeker, vice president of the crisis center's board of directors.

The Women's Resource Center, in contrast, tells women where they can get an abortion if they ask about ending pregnancies, said Julie Raulli, the center's community education coordinator.

"We're a women's organization and so we are in favor of women having all options is any situation," Raulli said.

The United Way announced in July that it would not support the crisis center after investigating allegations of a "strong religious underpinning that motivated the objectives of the center."

"The board felt that there were creedal requirements to obtaining services from the crisis center," said Richard Soukup, United Way communications director.

But Kroeker said that although there is a general question about religious background on its intake form, the center does not discriminate against women according to their religious beliefs.

"Our services are available for all women. We do not discriminate," he said. "I think they've misinterpreted us."

The crisis center had requested help from the United Way in funding its pregnancy support program, which provides clothing and supplies to pregnant women. The agency originally granted the center status as a Centre County United Way agency, but then withdrew its support for the crisis center.

"The board felt our decision was consistent with our policy," Soukup said. The policy states that the only requirement an agency should consider is need, he added.

While denying support to the crisis center, the United Way continued to give money to the Rape/Abuse Crisis hotline at the Women's Resource Center.

Although the resource center has a pro-choice philosophy, Raulli said, it does not exist solely to provide abortion counseling or to support a political viewpoint.

"The claims that we are an abortion rights organization are entirely fallacious," she said.

But local pro-life groups and Our Lady of Victory Church say the resource center has political underpinnings and called for an investigation into its policies, similar to the one conducted with the crisis center.

"I would say that (the abortion issue) is certainly a big part of the question," Means said. "They certainly seem in favor of a pro-choice stand and we, clearly, are not."

The United Way investigated the resource center and decided to continue its funding, Soupuk said.

"The Women's Resource Center operated within our guidelines," he said.

The church's boycott of the United Way is not meant to hurt local groups supported by the agency, Means said.

"We still want them to give (directly) and we know that there are still good agencies out there," he said. "All we are really trying to be is heard a bit."

Means said the only calls the church has received have supported its position.

But Soupuk said the United Way has gotten both support and criticism for its stand. Soupuk declined to comment on whether or not the boycott would change the agency's funding decision.