Texas Tribune

The Texas Legislature’s budget for the next two years includes $20 million more in funding for a controversial program that seeks to discourage women from getting abortions in the state.

Alternatives to Abortion uses contracted providers to offer services such as financial counseling and support groups for new parents, as well as children’s items such as car seats and infant formula. The extra money puts the program’s total operating budget at over $38 million, the highest it’s been since it began in 2006.

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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees Alternatives to Abortion, said in a report it plans to use the funding to extend services for new parents until the child’s third birthday and connect pregnant mothers to financial assistance programs such as Medicaid, CHIP and food stamps. The commission also plans to expand job training and placement for mothers under the program, which will “lead to greater self-sufficiency and lower reliance on health and human service programs across the lifespan,” according to the report.

State law requires the Health and Human Services Commission to report funding needs to the governor and Legislature. Funding is allocated in two-year periods and has steadily grown each legislative session. The 2018-2019 period’s $20 million increase is the largest in the program’s history — four times its starting budget in 2006. The last increase was an additional $8 million beginning in 2016.

Anti-abortion groups have long lobbied to get greater funding for the program. Joe Pojman, executive director Texas Alliance for Life, said he was “ecstatic” to hear about the funding increases, saying it demonstrates the state’s priority in limiting abortion.

Pojman said expanding Alternatives to Abortion will save the state money by making helping new mothers become more financially independent and equipped to care for their children, lowering the number of parents relying on state social services.

“If they’re self sufficient through the process of childbirth and afterward, that saves the state money and makes for much happier women and children and families,” Pojman said.

Thousands of advocates have flooded the federal government with comments this week, weighing in on whether it should reverse an Obama-era decision to strip Texas of millions in federal funding for a health care program that excludes abortion providers and their affiliates.

The number of comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Texas’ request has doubled in recent days, from 9,000 earlier this week to over 18,000 as of Friday afternoon, hours before the public comment period ends. The deadline comes as a new report from the liberal Center for Public Policy Priorities suggests the state’s decision to exclude Planned Parenthood from the program was responsible for stripping health care access from 45,000 women.

The federal government has historically declined to give Medicaid funding to states that don’t allow patients to choose between “any willing provider.” In 2011, Texas ousted abortion providers from the Medicaid Women’s Health Program, which the Obama administration argued violated federal law, leading to an end to federal funds.

Joe Pojman, executive director of the anti-abortion Texas Alliance for Life, said he was “overjoyed” about the new Title X rule and that Planned Parenthood and other providers that offer abortions in any capacity should not be allowed to receive any federal or state dollars for other types of services.