Grand Canyon Times

Legislators have failed to restore state funding for a crisis hotline because of pressure from activists objecting to a tiny percentage of callers asking about abortion services, according to reports.

State funding totaling $2.6 million for the 211 hotline run by the nonprofit Crisis Response Network was eliminated during the great recession, but as Arizona recovered various attempts were made to restore the monies.

The community support and referral line helps people find and navigate the various social services available within the state, but it has struggled to survive in recent years and the network announced the lay off of three trained operators this summer, according to Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts.

Legislative attempts earlier this year to restore state funding were blocked by the Center for Arizona Policy, Roberts said, citing reports. She added the reason was because 0.0003 percent of last year’s nearly 1 million callers to 211 had questions related to abortion, which amounts to three questions.

Justin Chase, the network's chief executive, said it could screen and block calls on abortion, but federal rules mean it would need to do the same for "pro-life oriented questions about adoption and care services," of which there were 400 last year.