If the Supreme Court of the United States overturns Roe v. Wade this summer, abortion will be prohibited statewide in Texas, with a few exceptions. Although some Texas women would certainly seek abortions in other states, the new law might result in tens of thousands more children being born in the state each year.
According to John McNamara, executive director of the Texas Pregnancy Care Network (TPCN), the network is ready to assist those moms and babies.
The funding network began in the early 2000s and has evolved to assist over 175 facilities around the state, including crisis pregnancy centers, maternity homes, clinics, and more.
According to McNamara, each of the almost 200 organizations supported by the TPCN is a separate nonprofit with its own revenue and donor base. The program’s goal is to use government funds to help each organization increase its pro-life work.
“This is not just about saving the baby, this is about setting young parents up for long-term success in their parenting,” he told CNA.
According to McNamara, the initiative began in the early 2000s after the Texas legislature realized how much government cash was going to organizations that provide or promote abortion. According to McNamara, the Texas government sought to create a revenue stream for organizations that promote childbearing, parenting, and adoption.
The Texas Alternative to Abortion Services Program was founded with the goal of “leveling the playing field” between abortion providers and pro-life organizations.
According to McNamara, there was a federal component to the monies during the first 16 years in the form of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) money, but the government component was always minimal: less than 10% for the last 16 years.
TPCN is now wholly supported by state of Texas general revenues. The organization was the program’s largest grantee in fiscal year 2021, getting $36.6 million (almost 80%) of the money available.
Texas’ maternity care program is already being replicated, most notably by its neighbor, Oklahoma, as other states approve laws to outlaw abortion, which they would be permitted to implement if Roe v. Wade is reversed.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill barring abortion from the moment of conception, with a few exceptions, in late May, and Oklahoma launched a pregnancy care network in 2019 that is nearly identical to Texas’.
The Oklahoma network’s executive director, Madeleine Craig, said in May that the network currently has 12 locations and plans to grow to at least 20 by the end of the year.
The Texas program is renowned for the breadth of its treatment continuum. According to McNamara, women and men are not only eligible for pro-life services during pregnancy. In fact, their services are available from the start of a pregnancy until three years after the baby is born.
Counseling for women considering abortion, lodging for women who have been in a dangerous or abusive situation, vocational training, and classes on budgeting, self-sufficiency, and interviewing skills are among the services provided.
They also provide doula services and fathers’ programs and workshops to teach them how to be excellent and effective fathers.
According to McNamara, the Texas legislature has spoken out strongly on the issue, resulting in a “nearly four-year continuum of treatment.”
According to the Texas Tribune, pregnant women in Texas are more likely than the rest of the country to be uninsured — one in every five inhabitants was uninsured in 2019, double the national average — and less likely to seek early prenatal care. Maternal mortality and morbidity are also high in Texas, as are teen pregnancy rates.
When she sought treatment for her pregnancy, an anonymous customer of the pregnancy network expressed her gratitude for the human connection she created.
“You helped a broken person that never talked about her feelings, that felt she was not important and not worth it. But after meeting you, I feel I am an important person. I love that I met you,” the client wrote on her comment card upon leaving the clinic.
Texas enacted a “heartbeat” abortion ban in September 2021 that prohibits abortions after an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected, but relies on private lawsuits between citizens to enforce the ban, rather than state action.
Despite the fact that many women have traveled out of state for abortions since the heartbeat ban was established, it has resulted in a decrease in the number of abortions in the state and, as a result, an increase in moms seeking aid.
TPCN member groups have witnessed a 35 percent increase in requests for their services since the bill went into force, compared to a normal, pre-pandemic year, McNamara said. When or if Roe is overturned, he added, they foresee another surge in demand, and an increase in financing from the Texas government would be a big help to their many clinics and houses.
The organization, along with other pro-life and Catholic organizations, has received threats in recent weeks as a result of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court being leaked.
Loreto House, a pro-life pregnancy center in Denton, Texas, was damaged with graffiti reading “Not a clinic” and “Forced pregnancy is murder” over Mother’s Day weekend. Woman to Woman Assistance Center, another women’s resource center, was also vandalized.
The TPCN encompasses both centers.