Tennessee slashes proposed pregnancy center funding while barring local funding of abortions

Tennessee lawmakers have continued altering their post-Roe policy with measures targeting taxpayer support for abortion and pregnancy centers.

Last week, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a bill that prohibits local governments from assisting another person in obtaining an abortion that would be illegal in Tennessee. That includes support through a health plan or by funding out-of-state travel for an abortion. According to WTVF, Nashville lawmakers had asked the Metro Employee Benefit Board to fund out-of-state travel for employees.

Tennessee banned nearly all abortions last year when its trigger law took effect. Lee followed in February by proposing to grant pregnancy centers $100 million in funding.

More recently, however, the legislature passed its budget but with a much lower funding level of $20 million for pregnancy centers.

It’s unclear what caused the dramatic reduction, and the Associated Press seemed to attribute it to the result of legislative negotiations. 

Bo Watson, chairman of the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, reportedly said that “[a]fter a considerable conversation, both negotiating teams agreed that we would leave $20 million in the budget for crisis pregnancy centers.” He added: “We would also like to have further discussions on exactly who these crisis pregnancy centers are and what they do.”

When asked, Lee’s office didn’t elaborate on the reason for the lower funding level. Instead, it emphasized that “the Governor has made it a top priority to boost support for mothers, children and families facing a crisis pregnancy.” Part of Lee’s grant program includes support for direct services to mothers, workforce assistance, housing assistance, and support for Tennesseans considering adoption.

Those are part of a broader, $600 million investment in Lee’s Strong Tennessee Families initiative, which includes a Medicaid waiver designed to help provide for mothers and infants. Among other things, that entails covering the cost for two years of diapers, making Tennessee’s postpartum coverage permanent, as well as $10.25 million for care in service of children and families impacted by foster care and adoption.

Gov. Bill Lee

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This year, TN has the opportunity to further strengthen postpartum care for mothers & extend @TennCare services to more than 25,000 additional women, children & families in need. We are committed to supporting strong families & serving the most vulnerable.

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5:11 PM · Feb 8, 2023

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The move comes amid a broader debate about pro-life pregnancy centers and the role they play in helping women whose states have enacted greater protections for preborn children in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Prior to Dobbs, Texas had already allocated $50 million to pregnancy centers while Pennsylvania and Missouri allocated $7 million and $6.5 million respectively, according to the AP.

Pro-life centers provide a wide range of services – from diapers to counseling to ultrasounds – in states across the nation. According to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, these centers have saved at least 800,000 lives in recent years and provided nearly $270 million worth of services in 2019. Yet, they continue facing vague allegations of deception, as they did with pro-abortion advocates requesting centers’ defunding in Pennsylvania. 

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has decided to revoke the state’s nearly $8 million in Title X family planning grants, taking issue with Tennessee’s direction for physicians not to refer for abortions out of state.

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