The Left Isolates Women from Choices Beyond Abortion

The Left is AGAIN attacking free resources being provided to mothers and children in Texas, particularly under the highly-successful Thriving Texas Families program, formerly the Alternatives to Abortion program.

Why? Because the Left is no longer pro-choice, but pro-abortion. The only acceptable choice is the one “option” that leaves the mother abandoned and her child dead.

The opposite is true of these various Pro-Life providers within the state’s Thriving Texas Families program:

Pregnancy resource centers offer women access to free parenting and life-skills classes and educate on the reality of abortion. These centers also provide crucial pregnancy items such as maternity clothes, diapers, and wipes. The centers are even connected to social services to help mothers in need to succeed.
Adoption agencies help mothers create a parenting plan and guide them through the process of choosing a loving home for their babies. This process allows these mothers to determine how involved they would like to be in their child’s upbringing.
Maternity homes are free, safe places for mothers to stay while pregnant. These homes help mothers plan for their babies, whether she chooses to parent or place the child for adoption. The homes assist her in creating a stable life when her home life might not be reliable enough for the time being.

For decades, Pro-Life Texans have supported mothers and their children through amazing nonprofits so women do not have to stand alone when facing an unexpected pregnancy.

This program was created by the state Legislature in 2005 to serve pregnant and parenting Texas women and their families. In 2023, it was codified into Texas law and renamed the Thriving Texas Families (TTF) program.

The state fund reimburses contracting nonprofit pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies for serving families up to three years after childbirth, including adoptive families, and serving families that have experienced miscarriage or loss of a child. Since its creation, the TTF program has consistently and substantially grown into a robust statewide network of providers. Now more than ever, these nonprofits are seeing demand grow due to Pro-Life laws guarding against abortion and with increased economic difficulties caused by rising inflation.

Providers in the TTF program are reimbursed for giving these crucial social services on a fee-for-service basis — they only receive funding for services already rendered. This is a piece of what has made Texas’ program so successful. None of the state’s reimbursements may go to anything beyond the specific purview of the program. However, when participating providers are reimbursed, they may then use those funds, as well as privately-raised funding, for other expenses the nonprofit may incur, as long as those expenses fall within 501(c)(3) guidelines. Texas Pregnancy Care Network (TPCN), the largest contractor within the TTF program, has some breakdown of their services and subcontractors below:

* https://texaspregnancy.org/about/financials/

Anti-Life Attacks

This program is constantly under attack, both inside and outside the Capitol. Because this program does receive millions in taxpayer dollars, skeptics frequently criticize its funding, including how providers’ reimbursements are used. Two main claims include:

Incorrectly using state reimbursements by providing services outside of the scope of the program, which is not possible due to the fee-for-service requirement, and
Saving some of the nonprofit’s funds for things like purchasing a larger facility to accommodate client needs or to assist women facing homelessness while pregnant through rent assistance.

Both accusations twist reality to undermine Pro-Life resources going to women in need. They seek to halt the provision of services that are critical to pregnant women and families who need social service assistance. TPCN publishes a breakdown of services and funding on their website to guarantee transparency, and other program contractors are similarly held to high standards of care and transparency.

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What is the real reason for this criticism?

Women who go to providers like those in the Thriving Texas Families program are at least 20% less likely to seek an abortion than women who do not. Pro-Life resources undercut Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry selling their main product — abortion.

Opponents of Life are removing the resources provided to women to make choices other than abortion. Thankfully, hundreds of Pro-Life TPCN and TTF providers will continue serving and standing with Texas women and families in difficult situations.

If you or someone you know is facing an unexpected pregnancy, there are hundreds of resources available across Texas. We do not need elective abortion to thrive, but we do need these critical Life-affirming nonprofits.