The Texas House and Senate released their proposed budgets for the next two years. Protecting and expanding the Alternatives to Abortion (A2A) program is a Pro-Life priority for Texas Right to Life and must be for our state legislators as well during the 87th Legislature. While both budgets included funding for the life-affirming Alternatives to Abortion program (A2A), the two chambers landed on two different sums of funding.
A2A funds critical social services to expectant families during pregnancy and up to three years after birth or adoption. A2A allocates funding to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies that help families who choose Life by providing them counseling, clothing, childcare supplies, parenting classes, job skills training, job placement assistance, and more. Rather than abandon pregnant mothers and their babies, A2A equips them with the resources they need to thrive as a family.
The Texas Senate released their budget proposal that allocates $80 million for the upcoming biennium, with an option for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to grant an extra $20 million if HHSC determines that A2A requires the extra funds. The House also released their budget proposal with an equal $80 million in total for the next two years—without any option for HHSC to grant additional funding.
The increased funding in the Senate budget is laudable and necessary for accomplishing the program’s mission and growth. With A2A having seen a 52 percent increase in unique clients from 2019 to 2020, and further increases expected this year because of economic repercussions following COVID-19, the Legislature must ensure A2A meets their yearly need, forecasted at over $45 million for fiscal year 2021. The Senate budget makes an important investment in A2A that will allow the program to more effectively and holistically serve patients across the state.
Although the Texas House’s proposal to maintain the level of funding for this program is encouraging, their appropriation will not meet the demand for this program across our state, especially as recovery from the health and economic crises of COVID-19 continues. A2A has grown rapidly both geographically and numerically; each year more families are serviced in more parts of the state. There are providers across the state eager and ready to begin offering social services in their communities, only waiting for the funding to enable A2A contractors to bring on these providers. Economic despair has hit these parts of Texas as business activity has slowed and halted—state revenue projections reflect this economic reality. Yet, the economic downturn has not spared families who need the social services provided through A2A. This is the exact sort of program the Legislature must support in the coming biennium as Texas climbs out of COVID-19-induced economic hardship.
Abortion is the taking of a child’s life inside her mother’s womb. This killing is what Texas Right to Life and the Pro-Life movement tirelessly strive to once again make illegal. We must simultaneously assist the mothers and fathers of these preborn children, the very people in the often unexpected circumstance of making a choice that will lead to Life or death. A2A affirms and walks alongside Texas women and families facing this difficult circumstance, and does so in a proven successful manner. Texas must continue to prioritize our life-affirming stance through increased funding to the Alternatives to Abortion program this legislative session. Contact your state representative and let them know you want Texas to protect and support both the baby and the mother in challenging circumstances by increasing funding allocated to the Alternatives to Abortion program.