Policy Alert: IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED & New DASPA Appointed

DATE:   October 18, 2007
TO:     Delegate Agencies, Board of Directors, Advocates and Staff
FROM:   Yvette Jorgensen, Public Policy Analyst
RE:     Policy Alert:  IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED & New DASPA Appointed

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED & New DASPA Appointed

At 4:30pm EST TODAY, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) will offer two anti-family planning amendments during Senate floor consideration of the FY 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill (H.R. 3043). These amendments (S. Amdt. 3329 and S. Amdt. 3330) constitute a full-scale assault on family planning providers, and must not prevail. Please take 5 minutes to call Senator Feinstein and Boxer and urge them to vote NO on the Vitter amendments.

S. Amdt. 3329 would prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving funds for family planning projects under Title X:
• The Vitter amendment constitutes a full-scale attack on family planning for low-income individuals.
• The Vitter amendment would defund approximately 575 family planning clinics, almost 13% of Title X-funded clinics nationwide. This amendment could defund entire health care provider networks that span large geographic areas. Passage of this amendment would eliminate Title X-funded family planning services completely in Connecticut, Wisconsin, Utah, and the District of Columbia, as Planned Parenthood is the sole Title X grantee for those states and the District.
• The Vitter amendment could cut off nearly one million women—more than one in five women who receive Title X services—from their family planning provider. Two-thirds of Title X clients have incomes below the federal poverty level, and most are uninsured and do not qualify for Medicaid. Many of these women—particularly those who live in rural areas—could face tremendous difficulty finding other health care providers able and willing to deliver the high-quality family planning services required of Title X, placing them at increased risk of unintended pregnancy and abortion.
• Title X funds do not now, nor have they ever, paid for abortions. Current federal law and policy prohibit Title X funds from being used to provide, promote, or encourage abortions. This amendment specifically targets Planned Parenthood, despite the fact that no violation of the prohibitions on abortion-related activities has ever been identified over the program’s more than three decade history.

S. Amdt. 3330 would prohibit an entity from receiving federal health funding if it, or any of its subgrantees, performs abortion services, except in the case where a woman’s life is in danger:
• The Vitter amendment would endanger the health of more than 1.6 million women by eliminating long-standing and trusted sources of women’s health care in communities across the country. Especially in rural areas, many of these individuals would have nowhere to go for the contraceptive services, counseling, education, breast and cervical cancer screening, STD testing, including HIV testing, and other important preventive health care services. These individuals would likely delay care or seek services in hospital emergency rooms, adding to the high cost of uncompensated care community hospitals are already providing.
• The Vitter amendment is a full scale attack on contraception. Federally funded family planning services help women avoid nearly one million unintended pregnancies each year, nearly half of which would have ended in abortion. Diverting resources from established public health providers could undermine the Title X program’s marked success in reducing rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion. The amendment threatens the long-standing network of family planning safety net providers, and does nothing to prevent unintended pregnancy or the need for abortion.
• Current policies already require Title X projects to be separate and distinguishable from abortion-related activities. Title X grantees must demonstrate in financial records, counseling and service protocols, and administrative procedures that abortions are not performed, promoted, or encouraged with Title X funds.

Time is of the essence. Please call Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer now to urge them to vote NO on the Vitter amendments.

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Washington DC Phone: (202) 224-3841
San Francisco Phone: (415) 393-0707
Los Angeles Phone: (310) 914-7300

Senator Barbara Boxer
Washington DC Phone: (202) 224-3553
San Francisco Phone: (415) 403-0100
Los Angeles Phone: (213) 894-5000

In other Title X News…

Dr. Susan Orr, former Senior Director for Marriage and Family Care at the Family Research Council, has just been tapped to oversee the Title X “family planning” program. Unfortunately, it looks like the Administration has chosen yet another person who opposes birth control to run it. While her resume suggests a commitment to child welfare and children her professional credentials fail to demonstrate a commitment to comprehensive family planning services for all men and women in need.

Prior to joining the Bush Administration Dr. Orr was the Senior Director for Marriage and Family Care at the Family Research Council, an organization well known for its efforts to limit access to contraception. Dr. Orr cheered President Bush’s proposal to remove contraceptive benefits for federal employees. In fact, she told the Washington Post, “we’re quite pleased because fertility is not a disease. It’s not a medical necessity that you have it [contraception].”

Dr. Orr’s appointment follows on the heels of Dr. Eric Keroack’s tenure at the Title X program.  Dr. Keroack, you will recall, was the medical director for a crisis-pregnancy center that had an explicit policy opposing contraceptives. He recently resigned from his position.