Texas House Budget Slashes Millions from Family Planning

On April 3, the Texas House of Representatives passed their version of the budget (HB 1), with nearly $62 million (out of $98 million) in cuts to the Texas Family Planning program.   This is the program that uses federal Title V, X., and XX funds for checkups and birth control for low-income females.  This program does not provide abortions, and is supported by the Healthy Futures Alliance (HFA) State Legislative Agenda.

Six amendments introduced by Republicans transferred funds from family planning to other programs, including Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Autism, Children's Mental Heatlh, EMS/Trauma Care, and Early Childhood Intervention.   All passed on party-line votes. 

These deep and devastating cuts, if unchanged, will mean that many fewer poor women will receive the screenings, exams, and contraception that the program provides.

The Senate could still restore this funding.  Please call your Senator--and your Representative--to tell her or him that you support the preventive care that Family Planning provides.  Ask them to vote to RESTORE Family Planning in the budget. 

Not sure who represents you, or how to contact them?  Click here for info.  

Renewing the Texas Women's Health Program (WHP) is the HFA's top legislative priority this session, and several bills that HFA supports have made it as far as Committee hearings.  Unless it is renewed by legislative action, the Texas Women's Health Program (WHP) will end in December 2011. 

Since 2007, WHP has provided checkups, screenings, and birth control (not abortion) to low-income uninsured women 18-44. This program saved the state over $37.6 million in its first 2 years.  Because it helps women avoid unwanted pregnancies, WHP saves Texas $10 for every $1 in General Revenue that we invest in it.  WHP also helps prevent premature births, health problems, abuse and neglect, and abortions. 

WHP also provides screening for breast and cervical cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, STDs, and tuberculosis.

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TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Joaquin Castro

District 125 

Dear Healthy Futures of Texas Members,

This session, I have filed House Bill 1624, which would require comprehensive sexual health instruction to include medically accurate, age-appropriate information on FDA-approved methods to reduce the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.  In this bill, we are still making sure that abstinence is the emphasis, but our legislation also has a dose of reality in it.  While abstinence may be the healthiest and preferred choice for our teens, there are overwhelming statistics that we simply cannot ignore. 

The reality is that 54,000 babies are born to Texas teens every year, giving Texas the third highest rate of teen births in the nation, and the highest repeat teen birth rate.  By 6^th grade, 10% of our kids have had sex, and by 12^th grade, 70% of Texas teens have had sex.  What does it really mean when fourteen-year olds in Houston are having babies and seventeen-year olds in San Antonio are trying to parent two or three children?  It means that Texas teens are falling behind their peers in other states. 

In the face of the largest budget crisis Texas has seen in decades, evidence-based comprehensive sex education is also a cost saving solution. In 2004, the annual taxpayer costs associated with children born to teen mothers added up to roughly $1 billion: $165 million for public health care (Medicaid and SCHIP); $83 million for child welfare; $161 million for incarceration; and $349 million in lost tax revenue, due to decreased earning and spending. With Texas up against an overwhelming budget shortfall we cannot continue to absorb the short- and long-term costs of failing our children.

These statistics highlight the undeniable truth that the current standards for sex education are not working.  We need to do more to educate our youth and give the next generation the tools they need to make healthy decisions and reach their full potential.  This bill is a vital step towards educating our students, reducing teen pregnancies, and protecting the future of Texas. I ask you to urge your legislators on the Committee on Public Education to hear HB 1624, and vote it out of committee favorably.   

Sincerely,

Joaquin Castro

State Representative

San Antonio - 125

 Young Adults have their Say on April 21st

SAVE the Date:  National Day Press Conference MAY 4

Wednesday, May 4 is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy!  The Healthy Futures Alliance (HFA) will participate in a Press Conference to highlight the day on May 4, 2011 at the Downtown Central Library, 600 Soledad (1^st floor auditorium) at 10 a.m.

Mario Martinez of Project WORTH and the ME NOW...baby later Teen Ambassadors will present the latest local data on teen pregnancy and provide updates on the ME NOW...baby later campaign. 

On the National Day, teens nationwide will be asked to take the online Quiz.  Teens are presented with realistic scenarios that challenge them to think carefully about what they might do "in the moment." The message of the National Day is straightforward: Sex has consequences.

HFA will update you on National Day events as information becomes available.  You can also stay informed of the latest news about teen and unplanned pregnancy by joining the Healthy Futures Alliance.