State Grant Award For Round Rock Women's Clinic Draws Questions

ROUND ROCK, TX -- A state grant given Wednesday to a local women's health clinic has raised eyebrows, both for the the size of the award and for the decidedly pro-life mission of the organization.

As the Austin American-Statesman reported, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission grant to the Heidi Group -- the second-largest among 31 awarded -- has prompted criticism from some critics. Those critics point to the long-held anti-abortion advocacy of the group's founder,Carol Everett.

“We are surprised to see an award made to an entity before they appear to have any doctors or clinics ready to serve women, and we would be concerned about any awardee that that doesn’t have expertise in providing family planning services specifically,” Stacey Pogue, senior policy analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, told the Statesman.

The award is part of the state's newly launched Healthy Texas Women program, a subsidized health program tailored for low-income women requiring family planning resources, contraception and health screenings among other needs.

The first iteration of the Heidi Group founded in 1995 and operated for five years in Dallas providing free prenatal services, before shutting its doors due to lack of funding, the Statesman reported. A description of the re- booted organization's mission read: “The Heidi Group is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping girls and women in unplanned pregnancies make positive, life affirming choices. We believe that abortion is ending the life of a baby and is, therefore, contrary to God's will."

Everett herself is something of a fixture at state hearings, arguing for tighter abortion regulations, the newspaper noted. According to a biographical narrative from an earlier version of the group's website, Everett was formerly an abortion provider until 1983 when she "...came to now the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ."

Everett recently raised eyebrows herself for suggesting during a hearing on fetal tissue disposal that sexually transmitted diseases and the HIV virus could be transmitted through the sewer system, the Statesman reported.

The predominant conservative lawmakers in the Texas Legislature have ensured public funds aren't directed to fund abortions. In 2011, Planned Parenthood was excluded from another women's health program in 2011 given that the clinic does provide abortions as part of its panoply of services for women.

Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman >>