Arizona lawmakers tie funding for state's 211 crisis hotline to creation of anti-abortion program

The 211 crisis hotline that connects Arizonans with emergency housing, health care and other services may soon offer live operators round-the-clock for the first time since the Great Recession.

But that will only happen if 211 halts referrals to entities that provide, pay for or provide coverage for abortions, even if the person seeking information isn't looking to end a pregnancy. That means an operator couldn't direct a woman seeking birth control or sexually transmitted disease testing to a nearby Planned Parenthood, for instance, or any other women's clinic that offers abortions as part of its services.

The condition is a central — and contentious — stipulation in mirror proposals making their way through the Legislature: Senate Bill 1328, sponsored by Sun City Republican Rick Gray, and House Bill 2388, sponsored by Mesa Republican Michelle Udall.

Adding to the strong feelings over the bill: To get the money to fund 211, lawmakers would have to approve another $3 million over two years to pay for a pilot program that would “support childbirth as an alternative to abortion," modeled on the Human Coalition crisis pregnancy centers in Texas and North Carolina.

Supporters say the bills would help women experiencing unplanned pregnancies find the resources they need to make informed decisions about abortion alternatives. The pilot program would offer counseling and mentoring, Udall said, and follow up with women to address any additional needs.

"It is more than a program that seeks to prevent abortion," she said. "It's a program that seeks to help women in crisis gain the help skills and support necessary to become an anchor for healthy, happy families."

But the measures have rankled medical professionals, abortion-rights community groups and lawmakers who say they stand on the side of "reproductive justice," with many of them testifying against the legislation for hours in House and Senate hearings this week.

Some argued that unregulated crisis centers pressure or even trick women into proceeding with unwanted pregnancies rather than offering them information on all possible options. Amanda Parris, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said government shouldn't put its "thumb on the scale of which health care services someone should get."

Others said that Arizona already has crisis pregnancy centers, and were concerned with the tactics Human Coalition employs to target pregnant women. When a woman within 15 miles of one of their clinics or a partner pregnancy center searches online for something related to abortions, a Human Coalition ad or link pops up offering help, the group's executive vice president said in an interview with the Gospel Coalition.

Detractors ultimately achieved little more than upsetting Republican backers of the legislation, who voted to send the bills to the full House and Senate for consideration.

"I'm anxious to see this program work in Arizona like it's working in other states," Rep. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, said during a House Health and Human Services Committee hearing Thursday. "I think it's fantastic that so many women are being reached through a program that offers them a choice, a real choice when they're really struggling.

"For there to be such dissension and bias against reaching such women is really, I think, very telling," Barto said, describing her Democratic counterparts' opposition as "anti-life."

Financial struggles for 211

211's predecessor, the Community Information and Referral Service, started operating in Arizona in 1964. It became 211 about a decade ago as part of a federal initiative.

Since then, the database has expanded to include 36,000 contacts, including nonprofit and faith-based organizations that provide food, shelter, diapers and other help. But the Crisis Response Network has operated the system at a loss since it started managing it two years ago.

Sen. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, tried to restore much of the line's $2 million-plus budget last year. But the measure failed after the politically powerful Center for Arizona Policy raised concerns about the line referring callers to abortion clinics.

The Crisis Response Network said it had weighed eliminating abortion-related referrals, among other "possible ways to modify the operations to meet the concerns raised during our pursuit of state funding," but officials couldn't reach an agreement.

An analysis by the Arizona Mirror news site later found that people seeking information on abortions accounted for three of more than 950,000 calls to 211 in 2018.

Supplemental funding from grants and municipalities sustained 211's limited live-answering service until July. But after one of those larger funders cut aid, the network laid off its last few operators and shifted to a fully automated answering system.

'I did not have any options'

The Center for Arizona Policy also is advocating for this year's proposals. President Cathi Herrod testified at both committee hearings this week, reading letters she said came from satisfied patients in other states.

"The idea that (these centers) are somehow coercing women is just very, very far from the truth," Herrod said Thursday. "This is nothing about religious viewpoints. This is about women who are seeking to have an abortion. They want to know what the information is, what's available to them. And it's reaching these women. That's what it's about."

Lori Gray, a Fountain Hills resident, echoed Herrod's remarks, saying she'd had two abortions as a teenager after going to Planned Parenthood because she was unaware of the other options available to her.

"I would've greatly benefited from a program like this family health pilot program," she told lawmakers. "I did not have any options to go talk to other organizations. … I did not have aftercare. I did not have counseling. I did not know what was happening to me."

Rep. Kelli Butler, D-Paradise Valley, said she believed everyone on the committee wanted women to be armed with information. What she worried about, she said, was women getting "biased or inaccurate information."

"I want to make sure that women are supported," she said. "I am troubled that we will spend $3 million in a way that is just, to me, completely unvetted and not a responsible use of our tax dollars."

Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley, D-Tucson, said the fact that some pregnancy centers are "unregulated and uninspected by the Health Department is a big red flag."

"We have admission that not all of these centers have medical directors, they don't necessarily have training for their personnel. We've tried to have pass oversight in the past, and it's never gotten a hearing," she said. "So, this is dangerous health care in my opinion."

Network agrees to conditions

Other speakers stressed that the legislation would block 211 from connecting callers with Planned Parenthood or similar organizations, even if they wanted a referral for a mammogram or another service unrelated to terminating a pregnancy.

Barto dismissed that argument, contending that Planned Parenthood's "only claim to fame, really, is … doing abortions."

"I wonder how many adoptions Planned Parenthood refers women for every year," she said. "There's so much good to be done when we still have 12,000 innocent lives being taken (annually) and we can reach women with the help and support that she might need."

Rep. Becky Nutt, R-Clifton, similarly said the legislation was "about saving lives" and "giving women, teenagers the choice to save their baby when they maybe otherwise would not have a choice."

"We have kids here," she said, gesturing to a group of children attending the hearing. "Which one would you not want to have life?"

For its part, the Crisis Response Network largely avoided the fray, with a representative testifying that the group could "operate with the restrictions in the bill" when pressed about its more contentious provisions.

"Their main goal is to obtain the funding to get the 24 hour, seven day a week (services)," she said.

Republic reporter Rachel Leingang contributed to this article.

Reach the reporter at maria.polletta@arizonarepublic.com or 602-653-6807. Follow her on Twitter @mpolletta.

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