HARRISON, Ark. (KY3) – Sixteen Arkansas pregnancy resource centers have applied for a share of $1 million in state funding.
Pregnancy resource centers are nonprofit organizations that educate women about alternatives to abortion and provide free pregnancy tests, medical referrals, and infant supplies. In Harrison, Informed Choices Women’s Center of the Ozarks is a provider of such resources and has seen increased demand in recent months.
“We’ve been really busy. We’ve had a steady stream of clients asking nurses to give them pregnancy tests, to give them ultrasounds and see mothers have a viable pregnancy,” said director Rhonda Graham. “This is a pivotal time in the history of pregnancy care centers because, with the fall of Roe, we have an opportunity as Arkansas to make sure women understand that they are not alone.”
With abortion banned in Arkansas, officials have said they anticipate pregnancy centers and other nonprofit organizations will take on a more significant role in assisting mothers. The state has a strong stance on its trigger ban laws and taking steps to keep them in place.
“We are considering whether or not we can do something to stop being from circumventing ACT 180, which bans all abortions in our state except to save the life of a mother in a medical emergency,” said Sen. Jason Rapert in an interview last month.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has been speaking nationally about abortion laws and the steps the legislature is taking during recent special sessions.
“I would prefer the rape and incest exceptions to be in there,” he told ABC This Week. “And even though we have a trigger law, I expect those exceptions to be a significant part of the debate in the future.”
Of the 16 pregnancy resource centers that have applied for the grant money, a more significant portion is still waiting to see if more is to come, with a total of 44 clinics across the state.
“I mean anytime you get state leaders willing to invest in pregnancy centers all across Arkansas, that is a great day because funding is a big issue,” said Graham. “We are all nonprofits and donor based, so anytime our leaders say we need to invest in the women walking through the doors of pregnancy centers, that is a good day.”
Graham spoke on the importance of these decisions following the overturn of Roe vs. Wade in an interview Tuesday.
“We are not a ministry that just cares about the baby. We also care about the women, so we want to make sure women know whatever their questions are, that is why we are here,” she said. “There is a narrative that we don’t care about women that have had abortions, which is absolutely false. We certainly want to be there to walk alongside those women, to offer care and support after the fact.”
KY3 could not confirm with the Arkansas Department of Finance when these funds will become available for pregnancy resource centers.
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