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PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- The 211 Crisis Response Hotline will no longer be referring abortion services to those who call in Arizona to receive state funding. The problem: this could interfere with their national accreditation, which the state also requires.

[WATCH: AZ requiring 211 hotline to end abortion referrals]

Nearly one million people called 211 for help in 2018, a branch of the Crisis Response Network. But now the branch's abilities are changing.

“A challenging corner that we’re being pinned into,” said Crisis Response Network CEO Justin Chase. “We’re doing what we can to meet the needs of the majority.”

Chase said they’ve now agreed to state guidelines laid out in Senate Bill 1328 and House Bill 2388, requiring them to no longer give abortion referral services to those who call, if the network wants state funding, which it needs.

Right now, Chase said they’re struggling without a live-answer operator.

“The state funding would put the live operator back in place,” he said.

Chase said in 2018; they had three calls specifically for abortion referrals, and about 400 calls for adoption and pro-life services. But there is a problem with this new state requirement; it contradicts another.

“We’re not sure what the impact of this restrictive language would have on our ability to maintain accreditation, so that is a concern,” Chase said. Right now, the state also required the Crisis Response Network to have national accreditation. Still, in order to meet the standards for that, they must be non-partisan, and cannot exclude giving abortion referrals.

Chase said there is more work to be done to figure that out. Cathi Herrod, who lobbied for this legislation, issued a statement calling the accreditation issue a “red herring.”

Her statement read: "The accreditation issue is a red herring. Other state restrictions on funding that are similar have not impacted accreditation. Prohibiting the use of taxpayer money for the promotion of abortion-related organizations is not new. It has been a longstanding state policy. It should come as no surprise that lawmakers are requiring the 211 hotlines to comply with longstanding state policy."