Holden denies plea to release money for anti-abortion program

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden turned down pleas Tuesday from some fellow Democratic lawmakers to restore funding to a state program that aids pregnant women as a way of discouraging abortions.

Holden withheld the full $570,000 appropriated to the "alternatives to abortion" program as part of about $250 million in cuts made at the start of the state fiscal year in July.

Thirty-one Democratic House members recently sent Holden a letter asking him to allow the money to be spent and to direct the state Department of Health and Senior Services to once again seek private contractors to administer the program.

But Holden spokeswoman Mary Still said that would not happen.

'Not enough revenue'

"There is not enough revenue to release the withholdings for that," Still said.

"If we did that, it would require additional withholdings for education, and the governor is not willing to do that."

Rep. Matt Muckler, D-Ferguson, who helped coordinate the letter, said he was "disappointed" by the governor's response and would renew his efforts to fund the program in next year's budget.

Holden's budget director, Linda Luebbering, said the program would be reviewed along with the rest of the $19.1 billion budget in December to see whether updated revenue projections would allow some cuts to be reversed or would necessitate even more cuts.

From July 1, 2001, through June 30, 2002, the program helped 648 women by providing such things as aid for housing and utilities, adoption assistance and instructions on parenting skills. Just two women who participated in the program had abortions that year. The health department did not have statistics available Tuesday for the 2003 fiscal year.

Anti-abortion lawmakers of both parties traditionally have supported the program. The letter was dated Sept. 9 -- one day before the House voted to override Holden's veto of a bill requiring women to wait 24 hours after consulting a doctor before having an abortion.

"The Missouri Alternatives to Abortion program is a pro-woman, pro-family effort that helps working people and the poor," the Democratic lawmakers wrote in their letter to Holden. "It benefits families from both rural and urban areas, and is available to women of color and from ethnically diverse backgrounds. That is certainly in the finest traditions of the Democratic Party."

Holden supports the program but doesn't think there is enough money for it, Still said.

Funding for the program was left out of the health department budget passed by lawmakers in May. But after Holden vetoed that budget, lawmakers restored the program to the budget passed during a June special session. Holden signed the budget but then withheld the full appropriation for the program.

The letter by Democratic lawmakers notes that when the Legislature had eliminated the program in its original budget, Holden included it on a June 5 list of "devastating effects of the budget." Yet when lawmakers appropriated money for the program, Holden made the cut himself.

The letter claims that of the 621 programs suffering some cuts under Holden's July announcement, most took cuts of less than 3 percent and the "alternatives to abortion" program was the only one eliminated.

Luebbering said state subsidies also were eliminated for public television and firefighters' training, partly because those programs had other sources of revenue.

As for the "alternatives to abortion" program, "the number of women served was very low compared to the dollars spent," Luebbering said.

Robin Rust, deputy director or the Division of Community Health, said the program lacked strong evidence to prove a direct link between its services and the decisions of women not to have abortions.