Fully Funded Love
March 29th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Evidently, what young pregnant women really need is a big hug, and the state should foot the $5 million bill to give it to them. “You ever think these girls might need a momma just to give them a little love? That’s what this program does,” said Dallas Republican Rep. Jim Jackson, referring to crisis pregnancy centers.
Last session, the state budget took $5 million previously used to fund family planning and earmarked it for crisis pregnancy centers, which provide “pregnancy support services that promote childbirth.” The centers are designed to steer women away from abortion, and do not provide the healthcare services that family planning clinics do, like pap smears, STI testing and contraception.
The $5 million was allocated to “alternatives to abortion” again this session. Reps. Elliott Naishtat (D-Austin) and Michael Villarreal (D-San Antonio) each proposed a budget amendment to redirect those funds elsewhere. Naishtat’s would have put the $5 million toward child abuse prevention grants, while Villarreal’s would have put the money toward family planning programs. Both amendments were voted down.
Villarreal said crisis pregnancy centers do not help prevent unintended pregnancies, which is the best way to reduce the number of abortions. Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) said the problem with crisis pregnancy centers is that they appear on the surface to be medically related, as opposed to “mommas and grandmommas sitting in a rocking chair.”
