Lawmakers approve millions of dollars for life-affirming programs

In the early hours of April 11, lawmakers in the Texas House approved SB 1388, a budget amendment that allocates $210 million for the Thriving Texas Families (TTF) program.

TTF was started in 2005 under its former name, Alternatives to Abortion. According to Texas Health and Human Services, the program:

Promotes healthy pregnancy and childbirth, promotes childbirth as an alternative to abortion, increases access to resources that promote family and child development, encourages family formation, helps parents establish and implement successful parenting techniques, increases the number of families who achieve economic self-sufficiency, and provides a local approach and personalized support to pregnant women to promote childbirth in all instances of pregnancy.

The program provides support to nonprofits, like pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), which offer life-affirming services that may include the following:

• Pregnancy counseling, parenting skills, adoption services
• Educational materials about parenting, pregnancy, and adoption
• Coordination of prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care
• Life skills classes
• Referrals for government and social services programs
• Infant and pregnancy-related items, including maternity clothes, formula, diapers, car seats, cribs, and baby clothes
• Housing services

According to Texas Right to Life, the TTF program provided support to 190 brick-and-mortar locations last year, as well as a dozen other mobile and virtual locations, serving over 150,000 clients.

 

The $210 million earmarked for the fund is a $70 million increase over last year, as leaders said the additional funding was necessary to provide for all pregnant women and young families in need of support. That $70 million was a reallocation of Medicaid funds.

The amendment was introduced by Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who spoke in support of the program.

“This program promotes healthy pregnancy and childbirth. It supports moms who choose to have their baby,” he said, adding:

It increases access to resources that promote family and child development. It encourages families to stay together and support each other. It teaches parents to implement successful parenting techniques. It teaches families to take care of themselves financially. And it provides personalized support to pregnant women so that mom feels ready to have her baby.

The additional dollars that we are appropriating today will help further the mission of this very successful program, providing women with the support they need to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

The amendment passed in the House along party lines, but must still be approved by the Senate.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]