Government officials and pro-life organizations in Kansas are preparing to implement the innovative Alternatives to Abortion program, which is funded by the state. Despite facing a veto from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a pro-abortion Democrat, the program was enacted into law earlier this year through the efforts of pro-life legislators in the Republican-led state Legislature. The program’s primary goal is to offer support and resources to women facing unplanned pregnancies, facilitating childbirth instead of abortion. It will include a comprehensive range of services, consisting of adoption assistance, pregnancy support centers and maternity homes.
Catholic News Agency reports:
Government officials and pro-life nonprofits in Kansas are gearing up to implement the state’s innovative Alternatives to Abortion program, an initiative that pro-life legislators passed in spite of the Kansas governor’s veto of it.
The measure, enacted into law earlier this year, is meant to serve as “a statewide program to enhance and increase resources that promote childbirth instead of abortion to women facing unplanned pregnancies.”
The program will “offer a full range of services, including pregnancy support centers, adoption assistance, and maternity homes” via state funding.
The legislation was initially rejected in a line-item veto by state Gov. Laura Kelly, a vocally pro-abortion Democrat; Kelly argued at the time that the program would “provide taxpayer funding for largely unregulated pregnancy resource centers.” The plan, she said, was “not an evidence-based approach or even an effective method for preventing unplanned pregnancies.”
The Republican-led state Legislature subsequently overrode the governor’s veto. Jeanne Gawdun, the director of government relations for Kansans for Life, told CNA that pro-life activists worked directly with the Legislature to draft the language of the bill.
“We did research last year to look at different states, what they had in place already for funding of pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption centers, those types of things,” Gawdun said.
“We were able to get some of our pregnancy resource centers to come up and testify in support of the legislation regarding some of the things they could do with the funding,” she said.
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