For Immediate Release Contact: Jen Heitel Yakush
September 30, 2011 (202) 265-2405/[email protected]
House Republicans Decimate Funding for Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention;
Reinstate Funding for Failed Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs
Washington, DC--Yesterday, House Republicans released their Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-Education) spending bill. Among other devastating cuts to vital health and education programs, the bill slashes funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI), cutting the funding by $85 million to a total of only $20 million. The initiative was funded at $105 million in FY 2011. The bill also brings back dedicated discretionary funding for ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, the now-defunct Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grant program, at a level of $20 million. CBAE was funded by the federal government from FY 2001 until FY 2010 when Congress and the administration finally heeded the overwhelming evidence and the urging of our nation’s medical and public health agencies and eliminated funding for the failed program.
“It is outrageous that conservative policy makers would decimate funding for proven, evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs while resurrecting funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that the federal government’s own study proved to be ineffective,” said Monica Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).
Created in FY 2010, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI) funds medically accurate and age-appropriate programs to reduce teen pregnancy and underlying behavioral risk factors. The grant program, which totaled $110 million in discretionary funding for FY 2010, consists of two funding tiers that provide grants to local public and private entities for evidence-based and innovative programs. The initiative funds a total of 102 grantees in 36 states. Funded programs are set to reach over 800,000 young people annually.
The legislation also removes language which required TPPI-funded programs be supported by rigorous research or promising models, completely eliminating one of the central tenants of the program—that it be evidence-based and work to build the body of evidence. Because so many abstinence-only-until-marriage programs do not meet this standard, the elimination of this requirement shows the true intent of conservative lawmakers—to appease the abstinence-only-until-marriage industry while sacrificing the best interests of our nation’s young people.
The proposed Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill also guts funding for other vital sexual and reproductive health related programs. The legislation completely eliminates funding for Title X, our nation’s family planning program, and cuts funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention by $32.7 million. While trying to pass off the decision to cut these programs as being motivated by promises to enact “fiscal responsibility,” they are actually targeting programs that many ultra-conservative Members of Congress have been trying to get rid of for years.
“Every hour two young people under the age of 29 become infected with HIV and the United States still leads the developed world in unintended pregnancies. Yet, under the guise of deficit reduction, the House is gutting programs that have been proven to be effective in preventing unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STDs and are cost effective. And they are bringing back funding for a failed program that doesn’t achieve its purported purpose,” said Rodriguez. “This is the epitome of hypocrisy and tax-payers should be outraged. The House wants to waste our hard-earned tax dollars to peddle ideologically driven programs that waste resources and don’t meet the health and education needs of our nation’s young people.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their version of the Labor-HHS-Education bill on September 21st. In a clear show of support for sexual and reproductive health in these tight fiscal times, the funding bill provided level funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, the Title X family planning program, and HIV and STD prevention at the CDC.
“House Appropriations Committee Chair Hal Rogers and Subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg should be ashamed of themselves for perpetrating such deficit reduction hypocrisy and continuing the Republican assault on sexual and reproductive health,” said Rodriguez, adding that, “We commended Senate Appropriators, particularly Chairmen Tom Harkin and Daniel Inouye, for their strong support of sexual and reproductive health promotion and health care that is evidence-based and cost-effective. SIECUS will continue to work with the Senate, supportive House members, and the administration to quash the attacks on sexual and reproductive health and ensure that the prevention and education needs of young people are not thrown under the bus.”
With questions or comments please contact Jen Heitel Yakush at [email protected] or (202) 265-2405.
###
SIECUS affirms that sexuality is a fundamental part of being human,
one that is worthy of dignity and respect. We advocate for the right of all people to
accurate information, comprehensive education about sexuality, and sexual health services.
SIECUS works to create a world that ensures social justice and sexual rights.
