Arkansas lawmakers on Friday allowed the state Department of Finance and Administration to administer a taxpayer-funded $1 million program to provide funds to pregnancy resource centers, which are often religiously affiliated and discourage abortion while encouraging birth.

The department will start distributing the money in January, spokesman Scott Hardin said in an email.

Arkansas has more than 40 of these centers, often called “crisis pregnancy centers.” They operate independently but form a community, the Arkansas Pregnancy Network, due to their shared missions and similar services, Maria Speer, executive director of the Life Choices center in Conway, told lawmakers in August.

Digital advertising was a shared priority among several recipients of last year’s grant. Several centers said they would use the money to target ads toward Arkansans whose online activity suggests they might have an unplanned pregnancy.