The Arizona Legislature is considering spending $7.5 million over the next three years on a pilot program that seeks to prevent abortion and would provide a potential funding stream for crisis pregnancy centers.

House Bill 2759, introduced in the waning days of the legislative session amid budget talks, would direct the money to the state’s Department of Health Services over the next three years for a “family health pilot program.” The bill is backed by the Center for Arizona Policy, a powerful anti-abortion lobbying group at the Capitol.

It would provide $2.5 million for each of the next three years to fund the program.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, and co-sponsored by all members of the House’s Republican caucus, is one of several budget bills that were approved Wednesday by appropriations committees in both chambers.

Senate Bill 1547 is a mirror version of the same bill in the Senate, sponsored by Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, and co-sponsored by five other Republican senators.

The bill passed the House appropriations committee on a party-line vote. In the Senate appropriations committee, the bill was opposed by Democrats and Republican Sen. Heather Carter of Cave Creek.

The bills now face full votes in both chambers.

The Department of Health would be directed to distribute the $2.5 million each year to a nonprofit group that would “implement a statewide system to provide direct services, support services, social services case management and referrals to the biological or adoptive parents of children under two years of age, including unborn children.”

The bill appears to provide a funding stream for crisis pregnancy centers, places that seek to prevent abortion through tactics that pro-abortion rights advocates call misleading. These centers are largely unregulated and typically provide counseling that encourages women not to have abortions.

The system’s purpose, the bill says, is to “encourage healthy childbirth, support childbirth as an alternative to abortion, promote family formation, aid successful parenting and increase families’ economic self-sufficiency.”

The money cannot be used for “abortion referral services” or given to entities that “promote, refer or perform abortions,” the bill says.

Bill on a fast track at Capitol

The bill was introduced on Tuesday, the same day people gathered at the Arizona Capitol to speak out against strict anti-abortion bills passed in other states. The protesters in Arizona joined a nationwide day of action for abortion access.

During a hearing on the bill Wednesday, Udall explained the bill was a way for people who oppose abortion to confront the belief that they only care about babies until they're born.

"$7.5 million over three years to help save these lives is a small price to pay," she said.

Democratic groups and elected officials are calling attention to the bill and saying it would fund programs that provide inaccurate health information to women during pregnancy.

"The day we have the rally to #StopTheBans and protect abortion rights, *every House Republican* sponsored a bill attacking reproductive freedom (#HB2759). $2.5m to a nonprofit (Human Coalition) that LIES to and SHAMES women. Now we know where they stand," Democratic Rep. Athena Salman of Tempe posted on Twitter.

The Center for Arizona Policy has talked with lawmakers about the possibility of funding this pilot program, the group’s executive director, Cathi Herrod, told The Republic.

Three other states have similar pilots, she said.

"The pilot is modeled after a successful program in Texas that has reached pregnant women and informed them of available services,” Herrod said. “Results have been positive as far as women choosing to have the child."

Herrod said which organizations would receive the funding depends on which groups would qualify based on the bill’s requirements.

“The intent of the family health pilot program is to reach pregnant women that are often unaware of the services available to them aside from abortion and let them know about those services, whether they choose to parent or place their child up for adoption,” she said.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona opposes the bill. The group's executive director, Jodi Liggett, said in a statement that the bill would fund "faux health centers."

RELATED:Arizona groups join nationwide protest against restrictive abortion laws

Crisis pregnancy centers "are often run by organizations with a particular social agenda. More importantly, they do not inform women about all their options, and instead steer them toward one decision," Liggett said.

These centers are known for "often inaccurate and misleading information they provide to people seeking honest information about birth control and reproductive care," she said.

Liggett took a swipe at the Center for Arizona Policy, which is pushing the measure.

"Session after session, a biased organization with an extreme social agenda has lobbied for unnecessary laws in an all-out effort to interfere in the provision of health care to women in this state," Liggett said.

Debate centers on CAP, services

Debate on the bill, which grew heated at certain points, focused in on the Center for Arizona Policy's involvement and a program in Texas after which the bill is modeled.

In Texas, the anti-abortion group Human Coalition runs a similar program. On its website, the group says it "operates six 'lab-driven' divisions in key abortion-dense cities." The website says the group's efforts include marketing its services using "big data to reach families at risk," call centers, "care clinics" and church outreach.

Questioned by a Democratic lawmaker during the hearing, Udall said the Human Coalition came to talk to lawmakers about the idea of a program here.

"They were the group that came to talk to us, but this is a grant process that would allow any group to apply for it," she said.

Democrats peppered Herrod and Udall with questions about how the process would work, like how grants would be awarded and how the pilot program's efforts would be assessed.

"This seems half-baked. ... It doesn't have enough particulars in it," said Democratic Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez of Yuma.

Udall said she was open to adding some measures to bring accountability to the bill before it hits the floor for a vote.

Democrats also wanted to know how involved the Center for Arizona Policy was in drafting the bill and how long it had been in the works, considering the late hour at which it was introduced.

But Rep. John Fillmore, R-Apache Junction, said he didn't care much about the bill's provenance so long as it prevented abortions.

"I could care less if CAP brought this bill forward or Godzilla brought this stupid bill forward," he said.

Republic reporter Maria Polletta contributed to this story.

Reach reporter Rachel Leingang by email at rachel.leingang@gannett.com or by phone at 602-444-8157, or find her on Twitter and Facebook.

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