STOP EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE

THE TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION INITIATIVE

AND OTHER VITAL HEALTH PROGRAMS

Dear Advocates,

Under the guise of deficit reduction, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on a new Republican budget proposal that would drastically slash funding for vital prevention and health care programs. The Republican proposal would eliminate all funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. It would eliminate all funding for Title X family planning programs in the United States and cut over $1 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They are also going after any funding to Planned Parenthood clinics. And the cuts don’t stop there. These cuts would have a devastating impact on the prevention education and health care access of Americans across the country. They would undermine much-needed prevention efforts, low-income people’s access to health care, and the ability of our federal government to lead public health efforts around such issues as HIV/AIDS.

Current funding for the federal government is set to expire on March 4. By inserting these cuts into a must-pass continuing resolution, Republicans are setting up a scenario where Members of Congress may be forced to choose between eliminating much needed sex education, family planning services, and other health care initiatives and shutting down the federal government.

We need you to take action NOW! Keep conservative ideologues from gutting sexual and reproductive health care and prevention efforts in the United States.

Masquerading the proposed elimination of such initiatives as pregnancy prevention and Title X as a serious attempt at deficit reduction is laughable. For a budget deficit of $1.5 trillion, the $110 million cut to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative amounts to 0.0073% and the $327 million cut to Title X amounts to 0.0218%. Help save vital prevention and health care initiatives by calling your Representative TODAY.

To call your Representative, you can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 . Then ask for the office you’d like to be connected to. Once connected, ask for the health staffer. To find out who your Representative is, insert your zip code here.  

Tell him or her you support funding for health and prevention programs and that:

·         You strongly urge your representative to vote AGAINST any budget bill that cuts funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, Title X, the CDC, or Planned Parenthood.

·         The proposed cuts would have a devastating impact on efforts to prevent unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STDs and would undermine low-income people’s access to health care.

These cuts are not about “fiscal responsibility” or “reducing government spending.” They are about eliminating vital prevention and health care programs and eliminating access to comprehensive sex education, family planning, sexual and reproductive health services, and HIV/STD prevention for those most in need.

The House will vote on the funding extension this week. TAKE ACTION NOW!

Sincerely,

Jen Heitel Yakush

Director of Public Policy

SIECUS