Who Put Failed Abstinence-Only Programs Back in Health Care Reform? And Why?

[Echo In Light]

by James Wagoner

Lost in the shuffle of analysis of the new health care reform legislation is the fact that Democrats included over $250 million for failed Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The funds had been inserted in the health care reform legislation by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) during Senate Finance Committee consideration of the bill last summer and, somehow, quietly survived the process of revisions that went on last fall.

Never mind that these programs place the health and lives of young people at risk by denying them medically accurate information about condoms and birth control. Never mind that an exhaustive eight-year evaluation by Mathematica published in April, 2007 showed that these programs have “no impact on teen behavior.” Never mind that 22 states had rejected Title V funding in the past because they did not want to spend precious matching funds on programs that don’t work. Never mind that Speaker Pelosi condemned these programs at the Netroots conference in 2008. Bottom line is they are back, and Democrats seem none to eager to own up to who threw young people under the bus!

Here are some of the things we are hearing. Even though a number of prominent Democrats including Cong. Henry Waxman (D-CA) had contacted leadership and demanded that the ab-only programs be pulled from the bill, we’ve been told that leadership was focused on the "bigger issues" and never reached consideration of the ab-only piece.

Boy, does that ever smack of the “dog ate my homework” excuse. There was no rationale for keeping this amendment in the bill. Hatch is a Republican who opposes health care reform so there was no political need to placate the author of the measure. Taking Title V out of the bill would have saved a quarter billion dollars over five years and Democrats were desperate for savings so they could show that the bill would reduce the federal deficit.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/01-3

[Turbineguy]

1. It's the bi-partisan bit.

[samplegirl]

2. Truly a waste of money!

[boobooday]

3. I don't know, but it isn't scientifically based

Telling our children that sex will psychologically damage them unless they have signed a contract is bullshit.

[Toasterlad]

4. It Was Probably Obama. He Loves the Jeebus.

[Canuckistanian]

5. How do things like this get "lost in the shuffle"?

There had to be 10's of thousands of people going over this bill with a fine-toothed comb. It's probably one of the most scrutinized bills EVER in American history.

So how do you "miss" a $250 Million program inserted half a year ago by a foe of the bill?

[Echo In Light]

6. The obvious answer is "missed" = damage control

[progressoid]

7. Also, who looked the other way. And why.

:shrug:

[Echo In Light]

8. Bump

[Echo In Light]

9. Bump

[OneBlueSky]

10. don't know the "who," but the "why" is pretty easy to figure . . .

to funnel money to favored special interests . . .

come to think of it, that's pretty much how ALL discretionary funding happens in DC these days . . . maybe we should call it the "Bridge to Nowhere Syndrome" . . .

[Echo In Light]

11. Bump