Backers of Alternatives program fight cuts
- Feb 14, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY – Revenue expectations for the state of Missouri are lower than usual for 2010, and pro-life advocates are hoping funding cuts won’t hurt women like Sue (not her real name) who want to give birth to their babies.
Sue received help through the Alternatives to Abortion program, which is administered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Its goal is to assist women with crisis pregnancies who want to choose birth over abortion.
Assistance is provided in a variety of ways, including temporary housing, medical care, drug and alcohol treatment, job training, transportation, food, clothing and many other services.
Many of its services are contracted to private providers. One of those is the Alliance for Life-Missouri, an agency which sub-contracts its grant of just under $2 million to 40 organizations which provide the hands-on services. These include maternity homes, crisis pregnancy centers, and adoption agencies.
Marsha Middleton, chief executive officer for Alliance for Life-Missouri, has appeared before the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee. The committee began hearings on the 2010 budget in late 2008 so that the final budget can be hammered out and approved during the 2009 legislative session, which ends in mid-May.
Testifying before the House of Representative Appropriations Committee in favor of Alternatives to Abortion was Kerry Messer, lobbyist for the Christian Life Commission (CLC) of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC).
Messer said the hearings were not so much a “grilling” in which witnesses were forced to defend their positions but opportunities for those who wanted to testify for the program.
Middleton put the human face on her testimony with the real-life story of Sue.
Through the Alternatives to Abortion program, Sue and Ron, the baby’s father (also not his real name), received relationship and parenting counseling, emergency housing and help in finding a home they could afford.
Ron began one-on-one mentoring in a fatherhood program.
Sue received grief counseling concerning the death of a loved one. She left a bad lifestyle and has enrolled in a legal assistant program at a college. Ron has secured a higher-paying job. Their son has been born and is doing well.
“These programs save money for the state,” said Middleton. “We are able to teach women better life skills, get them pre-natal care so they won’t need further assistance down the road, and make them more productive citizens.
“We keep the ministries [in the alliance] connected to each other,” she added. “We’re working together. We’re training them to equip, prepare, and encourage our clients. We try to be a source of encouragement. We are sharing resources.
“We feel it is going to be very important for us to be out there and let [legislators] know the impact the program is going to have across the state.”
Middleton explained that affiliates are independent and do their own fund-raising. Most of their support comes from their own communities. The state grant is just one of several sources of funding.
The Alliance for Life-Missouri requires its affiliates to meet accountability standards for operational and financial integrity.
Messer pointed out that a lot of local Baptist churches around the state are supporting crisis pregnancy centers in one way or another. He said former Gov. Matt Blunt advocated abortion alternatives throughout the four years of his administration, and lawmakers have responded.
Middleton said members of the pro-life alliance are hoping for the best. “We understand that they’re seriously looking at budget cuts … midyear or in 2010,” she said, “and the tight budget means that many agencies are vying for the money.
“Hopefully, we will be able to continue to share what the program has been able to do for young women to continue their pregnancies.”
This article is reprinted from the February 3, 2009, issue of The Pathway, the newspaper of the Missouri Baptist Convention.