Prevention Agenda — 110th Congress

Prevention First

The Prevention First Act (S.21 / H.R. 819) symbolizes our shared commitment to supporting healthy families through commonsense prevention measures.  It is an omnibus family planning initiative that expands access to preventive health care services and education programs to help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and improve women’s health — all while saving scarce public health dollars.  The bill includes measures to fully fund Title X, expand access to services through Medicaid, require equity in contraceptive insurance coverage, protect rape survivors’ access to emergency contraception (EC) in the emergency room (ER), improve awareness about EC generally, and protect teens’ health through medically accurate, real sex education.

Key Priorities

Increase Funding for Title X Family Planning Services
Title X, the nation’s first and only federal program dedicated to the provision of family planning services, supports services to five million women through approximately 4,500 Title X-funded clinics each year — to help plan pregnancies, prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, detect breast and cervical cancer at the earliest stages, and provide screening for anemia, high blood pressure, and diabetes.  Between 1980 and 1999, Title X helped women avoid almost 20 million unintended pregnancies and provided a wide range of reproductive health services to millions of women.  Despite the public health benefits and cost savings of this critical preventive care, Title X has been grossly under-funded at $283 million for the last few years; this figure is less than 50 percent of what would be appropriate to keep pace with inflation since the program’s inception.  In the 110th Congress, at a minimum the Title X program should be funded at $311 million in FY 2008 to ensure that an estimated 139,000 new clients have access to quality reproductive health care.

Expand Access to Reproductive Health Care Through Medicaid
Improving access to safe, affordable, and effective contraception is vital if the United States ever hopes to reduce its high rate of unintended pregnancies.  The Unintended Pregnancy Reduction Act of 2007 (S.1075 / H.R.2523) would amend federal law to require states to provide Medicaid coverage for family planning services and supplies to all women who would be entitled to pregnancy-related care.  It would also guarantee coverage for family planning services under Medicaid.  This measure will dramatically increase access to family planning services while providing a cost savings of billions of dollars over 10 years.  At a minimum, states should be given this option.

We must repeal the citizenship documentation requirement added pursuant to the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA). Section 6036 of the DRA — which requires all new Medicaid applicants and all current Medicaid enrollees who have not previously proved their citizenship status to produce a birth certificate, passport, or other similar document — will prevent many otherwise eligible children and adults from obtaining necessary health care services.  The provision disproportionately affects those who need services the most and who are least able to obtain them elsewhere.  It is extremely burdensome to states, costly for providers, and devastating for public health.  The requirement must be repealed (S.909 / H.R.1878).

Protect Teens Through REAL Sex Ed
Since 1996, Congress has committed more than $1.5 billion in federal and state funding for abstinence-only programs that do not teach teens how to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections — other than through abstinence.  Currently, programs receiving federal funds are prohibited from discussing the benefits of contraceptives — placing teens at grave risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs, including HIV/AIDS.  Each year American teens acquire more than four million STIs, and approximately 750,000 teens ages 15–19 become pregnant.  Teens need accurate, complete information to help them both postpone sexual activity and protect themselves if they become sexually active.  The $176 million in federal dollars currently allocated to these ill-conceived abstinence-only programs should be redirected to programs that tell the whole truth about contraceptives, provide comprehensive sex education — including a focus on abstinence, and protect teens from these life-altering and life-threatening consequences.  The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act (S.972 / H.R.1653) supports age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education.

For more information, please contact the Planned Parenthood Government Relations Department at 202-973-4848.