FAIRBANKS — Gov. Sean Parnell has rejected lawmakers’ plan to expand eligibility for the Denali KidCare program, citing as justification his recent realization the program pays for abortions.

Parnell cut $2.9 million Thursday from the Legislature’s annual spending plans to halt the proposed expansion. Two-thirds would have come from the federal government with the remainder from state coffers.

The Legislature in April voted to expand the program to cover children and pregnant women from families with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level. That would have been an increase from 175 percent of the poverty level.

“I oppose expanding the government’s role in supporting abortion,” Parnell said Thursday of the budget cut. He said he will soon veto a related bill, Senate Bill 13.

Sponsors of the expansion had said the bill would open state health insurance to an additional 1,277 uninsured children and 225 pregnant women. Denali KidCare now covers 7,900 Alaska children.

The sponsors said this spring, as the bill crept through the Legislature, that Denali KidCare is inexpensive and that Alaska is one of a handful of states that doesn’t offer public health assistance for uninsured children at twice the poverty level.

The bill, backed chiefly by Democrats, emerged from a House committee in the Legislature’s final days before clearing the House floor. Parnell, a Republican running for governor this fall, stopped short, when asked by a reporter, of saying he’d look in the future to shrink the program or reshape it after learning money goes to abortions.

Human service groups had trumpeted the bill this fall and word of Thursday’s cut drew swift reaction.

“Our cause is to provide access to care for kids. That’s why we supported the increase, and we’re very disappointed to hear that it was vetoed,” said Cheryl Kilgore, president of the Arctic Alliance and director at the Interior Community Health Center. Democratic lawmakers noted the bill, sponsored by Sen. Bettye Davis, D-Anchorage, had made no mention of abortion.

The state Bureau of Vital Statistics reported in February that 1,875 abortions were reported last year. Of those, one-third were privately paid and 39 percent relied on Medicaid, the agency said.

Planned Parenthood’s Northwest office’s website steers visitors to Denali KidCare for those who lack insurance.

Cathy Stadem, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Social Services, said her office was still, as of late Thursday, determining whether other potential links exist between abortion clinics and state aid beyond Planned Parenthood’s potential acceptance of Denali KidCare funding.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks, confirmed Thursday he hadn’t been aware that Denali KidCare helps fund abortions in Alaska. Kelly, one of a handful of lawmakers to vote against Senate Bill 13, said his opposition stemmed from a desire to encourage more individual financial responsibility among middle-income families. But he said Parnell’s opinion could prove fuel for future debate over the program.

The bill’s supporters had argued some states offer universal public health care for children and that all but a few offer benefits proposed by Davis’ plan.

Contact staff writer Christopher Eshleman at 459-7582.