New President’s Budget, Same Disregard for Marginalized Communities

For Immediate Release
February 13, 2018

Contact: Zach Eisenstein
Phone: (202) 265-2405 ext 333
zeisenstein@siecus.org

Statement by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) President & CEO, Chitra Panjabi:

“SIECUS is as unsurprised as it is disappointed by the President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2019. The Trump Administration has, yet again, suggested severe cuts to programs intended to secure the health and wellbeing of our country’s most vulnerable communities.

The President’s most recent budgetary priorities continue the trend of an administration that holds no regard for ensuring the sexual health of the nation. While harmful proposals from the White House are plentiful, the items directly impacting young people’s sexual health and rights include:

• A staggering 21% ($17.9 billion) overall decrease in funding for The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• A $35 million cut to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s domestic HIV/AIDS prevention and research programs
• The elimination of the Office of Adolescent Health’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP)
• The continuation of funding for the failed, harmful abstinence-only-until-marriage Title V “Abstinence Education” state grant program at $75 million per year
• The proposed budget also aims to, once again, strip health care from millions—calling for major cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and “repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act over the next decade.

We remain hopeful that Congress will fight to defend and fund programs that support sexual, reproductive, and overall health—regardless of the President’s stated priorities. However, similar to their last budget blueprint, it’s clear that this Administration has no interest in ensuring the health and well-being of the very people that these federal programs were created to assist.”

###

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.