Texas cancels troubled contract with anti-abortion group
Source: Associated Press
Paul J. Weber, Associated Press
Updated 7:14 pm CDT, Friday, October 12, 2018
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas is canceling $6 million in troubled contracts with an anti-abortion group hired to bolster women's health services after Republican lawmakers cut off Planned Parenthood, and officials said Friday that more than $1 million in billings are under investigation.
The announcement ends a tumultuous two years of Texas in business with the Heidi Group, an evangelical nonprofit that started in the 1990s promoting alternatives to abortion. It was founded by Carol Everett, an influential conservative activist in the Texas Legislature, which has passed some of the toughest anti-abortion laws in the U.S. in recent years.
. . .
Texas lawmakers cut off funding to abortion providers 2011. More than 80 family planning clinics in the state closed after the decision, a third of which were affiliates of Planned Parenthood.
After booting Planned Parenthood and abortion providers, Texas launched a new network of health providers called Healthy Texas Women. State health officials said more than 2,900 providers billed the program last year, up from 1,500 in 2016. Critics argued that the program remains deficient and hasn't filled the void.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Texas-cancels-troubled-contract-with-13303621.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
