Four organizations hope to control $2 million in new abortion alternatives fund in Kansas
Kansas pregnancy centers are one step closer to getting their shares of a $2 million fund established to provide support for pregnant women and girls who might otherwise choose abortion.
The Kansas Treasurer's Office now has four options to run the $2 million Alternatives to Abortion Program. It was created by the Legislature as a way to send taxpayer money to anti-abortion counseling centers, commonly referred to as pregnancy resource centers or crisis pregnancy centers.
Supporters say the organizations provide assistance to pregnant people, such as diapers and formula, helping them choose to bear a fetus to term. But opponents say they often spread medical misinformation and pressure vulnerable people not to get an abortion.
"Women in Kansas deserve as much compassionate help as possible when facing an unexpected pregnancy," said Danielle Underwood, a spokesperson for Kansans for Life, which lobbied for the funding. "We're pleased to see a number of organizations are interested in furthering a critical safety net and look forward to seeing which team will be selected."
The Kansas Department of Administration released the list of bidders after the bidding event closed Wednesday.
The bidders are as follows:
Kansas Pregnancy Care Network, of Mission.
Human Coalition, of Plano, Texas.
Real Alternatives, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Life Alliance Kansas, of Lawrence.
Additional bid details won't become public until after a contract is awarded. There is no timeline for when a contract would be finalized with the winning bidder, but it could take weeks or months.
A Treasurer's Office spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment. State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican, previously expressed confidence in the ability of his staff to "manage the selection of an organization" to run the program.
"We are very excited at the possible opportunity to start and rollout our program in a fifth state — Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan, and Indiana thus far," Real Alternatives officials said in an email. "The impact these successful programs have had on women in these states has been tremendous and we would feel privileged to serve the women of Kansas!"
Representatives of Human Coalition and Life Alliance Kansas didn't respond to emails. No contact information could be found for Kansas Pregnancy Care Network, and the Department of Administration isn't allowed share such information about bidders.
More: Kansas opens bidding to run $2 million abortion alternative fund. Here's what to know
Experience is one of many factors Kansas wants in a bidder
The treasurer can only choose one nonprofit organization to contract with. The contractor will then subcontract with existing pregnancy centers and other organizations, as long as they are anti-abortion.
The treasurer will consider many aspects in addition to cost, such as experience in providing similar services.
The request for proposals laid out minimum qualifications, including that the "contractor must be an established nonprofit organization, authorized to do business in Kansas." It also established a preference for bidders with "a minimum of five (5) years continuous active participation in the applicable industry."
That provision may benefit the two out-of-state bidders, both of which have experience running similar programs.
Real Alternatives is the first operator of a state-funded alternatives to abortion program and has experience in multiple states.
"Our data shows the significant role Real Alternatives has played in helping Pennsylvania mothers choose life for their babies," the organization said in its 25th anniversary report. "Eighty-five percent of clients who were pressured to have an abortion chose life after receiving support from one of our program counselors."
Real Alternatives has taken credit for helping start abortion alternative programming in Kansas in the 1990s, presumably through the Stan Clark Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative under the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The organization has run the Pennsylvania program since 1996, but Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, announced earlier this month that he was ending the contract with Real Alternatives.
"Every woman seeking reproductive health care has the right to unbiased, medically accurate care and counsel," said Val Arkoosh, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. She said the agency "has an obligation to ensure our contractors and partners are acting in line with these values and being good stewards of taxpayer resources, and we will not relent on this commitment.”
Former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat, previously criticized the organization after a 2017 audit found Real Alternatives used tax dollars from Pennsylvania to fund activities in other states. He also criticized poor government oversight.
Michigan funded Real Alternatives until 2019, when Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed their budget.
Indiana still funds Real Alternatives, as it has since former Republican Gov. Mike Pence announced the contract after a pilot program.
Human Coalition is one of four entities that co-manage the Texas Alternatives to Abortion program. In fiscal year 2022, Human Coalition served about 26,000 clients and was awarded $8.5 million out of the $47.4 million total awarded by Texas Health and Human Services.
"Funding for A2A continues to meet the needs of clients and further the goals of A2A by reducing abortions, improving pregnancy outcomes, improving child health and development, and improving families' economic self-sufficiency," Texas HHS reported.
The Texas Pregnancy Care Network, which is one of the other operators, previously criticized Human Coalition in contract documents.
Texas Pregnancy Care Network wrote that its high standards "requires that any advertising or marketing of a Provider accurately describe and depict the services that organization offers. TPCN does not tolerate any degree of deception or trickery." The organization said Human Coalition used Google ads that appeared to be from abortion providers and took users to a website that appeared to a medical facility.
It is unclear what experience the two Kansas organizations have.
Neither Life Alliance Kansas nor Kansas Pregnancy Care Network appear to have an internet presence. There were no records in corporation, nonprofit and charity databases maintained by the Kansas Secretary of State's Office, the Kansas Attorney General's Office and the Internal Revenue Service.
More: How Kansans for Life plans taxpayer money to benefit anti-abortion pregnancy centers
Kansas has only funded one year of Alternatives to Abortion Program
Kansans for Life unveiled its plans for the Alternatives to Abortion Program at its annual March and Rally for Life event after voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the GOP-controlled Legislature to more heavily regulate or outright ban abortion.
Since the Value Them Both vote, Kansas has become an outlier in the region as other states enact tougher restrictions and bans in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. Kansas saw a spike in abortions due to an influx of out-of-state patients, particularly from Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri.
Part of the intent of the Alternatives to Abortion Program is to advertise services to people who may be seeking an abortion, potentially using highway billboards targeted toward patients driving to Wichita and Kansas City area clinics.
More: Taxpayer funding would boost anti-abortion counseling and ads under Kansans for Life plan
The program was enacted by the Legislature through the budget by overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's line-item veto.
"This proviso creates a sole source contract for an unknown entity to provide taxpayer funding for largely unregulated pregnancy resource centers," Kelly said at the time. "This is not an evidence-based approach or even an effective method for preventing unplanned pregnancies."
The budget only appropriated one year of funding, potentially setting up another veto showdown next session. The RFP stipulates the contract will only cover one year of operating the Alternatives to Abortion Program. Contract renewals for up to four additional years are contingent on renewed funding.
Poor performances in the first year in Kansas could put future funding in jeopardy if it leads to lawmakers pulling their support.
In Oklahoma, a state audit of Oklahoma Pregnancy Care Network found the contractor was "seriously underperforming," prompting a legislative effort to circumvent the contractor.
The Treasurer's Office plans to oversee the Kansas contractor by requiring quarterly reports, with installment payments tied to the progress reports. A legislatively mandated annual report likely won't be available until at least a month after the legislative session ends.
Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas gets four bidders for $2 million alternatives to abortion fund
