Kansas' new $2 million anti-abortion fund will be run by nonprofit led by Tim Huelskamp

A Kansas-based nonprofit is the winning bidder to run the state's new $2 million fund to support anti-abortion counseling centers.

The Alternatives to Abortion Program will be operated by the Kansas Pregnancy Care Network, Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson announced Tuesday.

"I am pleased that a group of Kansans has organized in response to our request for proposals and submitted the successful bid," Johnson said in a statement. "KPCN's ability to draw on the experience of their affiliated organization in Texas will allow them to hit the ground running in implementing this program as the Legislature intended, serving women facing the difficulties of an unplanned pregnancy."

The contract shows former U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp is the president of the board of directors of Kansas Pregnancy Care Network. Former state Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook is on the board of directors, according to a news release.

"It is an honor to work with the state treasurer's office to support and enhance the efforts of Kansas pregnancy resource centers to empower a woman to welcome her child into the world," Pilcher-Cook said in a statement. "It will be crucial to provide transparency, while ensuring the essential care is provided for these vulnerable women and families."

Over Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, the Legislature appropriated $2 million to the Alternatives to Abortion Program and tasked the Treasurer's Office with conducting the request for proposals and awarding a contract to administer the program through June 30, 2024.

The nonprofit managing the program will award taxpayer money to anti-abortion counseling centers, commonly referred to as pregnancy resource centers or crisis pregnancy centers.

Supporters say such 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.

Pilcher-Cook told The Capital-Journal that the Kansas Pregnancy Care Network hopes to have information soon for pregnancy centers that want to apply for funding.

"Our board is very excited to be able to offer services to Kansas women to help them in their situations where they weren't able to get help before, or were seeking help but it was harder to find and it wasn't plentiful," she said. "But I'm hoping it will be in the future once we get the word out to women who are going through this and get them the help they need."

Nonprofit articles of incorporation filed June 30 with the Secretary of State's Office show the directors are Ember Stabler, of Merriam; Vicki Tiahrt, of Goddard; Ron Kelsey, of Kansas City; Robin Jackson, of Hutchinson; Pilcher-Cook, of Shawnee and Huelskamp, of Hutchinson. The address listed in the contract is a mailbox at a UPS office in Mission.

A PAC led by Huelskamp was reportedly behind a misleading text message sent to Democratic voters last summer urging them to vote for the proposed anti-abortion constitutional amendment. Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected the Value Them Both Amendment in the Aug. 2, 2022, primary election.

The Administration Department previously released the list of four bidders, but has not yet released the bid tab-sheet showing the bid amounts by vendor. The request for proposals established a preference that the winning bidder would need to have experience in the industry.

Kansas Pregnancy Care Network, based out of Mission, beat two out-of-state vendors — Real Alternatives, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Human Coalition, of Plano, Texas — both of which have experience running similar programs in other states.

More: Kansas opens bidding to run $2 million abortion alternative fund. Here's what to know

While the Kansas Pregnancy Care Network is a newly created entity, the Treasurer's Office said it is modeled after and works closely with the Texas Pregnancy Care Network, which is one of the vendors administering a similar program in Texas.

Human Coalition's advertising techniques have previously been criticized by the Texas Pregnancy Care Network, which wrote in contract documents that it has high standards and "does not tolerate any degree of deception or trickery." Real Alternatives recently lost its longstanding contract to run the Pennsylvania program.

The only other in-state bid came from Life Alliance Kansas, based out of Lawrence, but the Treasurer's Office said their bid was disqualified by the Department of Administration. There was no indication of why, and a Department of Administration spokesperson said he could not comment on the matter.

More: Four organizations hope to control $2 million in new abortion alternatives fund in Kansas

Correction: Tim Huelskamp is president of the board of directors, not executive director, of the Kansas Pregnancy Care Network. The executive director hasn't been publicly announced.

Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's who will run $2 million Kansas Alternatives to Abortion Program