Every year, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and its coalition partners advocate for important reproductive health initiatives to be adequately funded in the Massachusetts Budget. Thanks to your activism, the budget signed by the Governor includes full funding for two of our top three priorities.

 

The Governor included the funding level of $4 million that we supported for teen pregnancy programs in the Commonwealth (line item 4530-9000). This win is especially important in light of the recent increases in teen pregnancy and birth rates in many communities around the state.

 

The Governor’s final budget also included the language and funding needed to establish a new office of health equity. There are wide disparities in health care access and health outcomes here in the Commonwealth, and it is important that we start addressing these critical issues. Until we address them, we cannot guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding her own reproductive health. The new language and funding included in line item 4000-0300 will start to address these disparities in Massachusetts.

 

 

One or our top priorities was affected by the vetoes made by the Governor. He has reduced the funding for critical family health programs by 4.1%. His $360,000 cuts to the Family Health line item (4513-1000) will diminish a woman’s ability to access important family planning services.

 

But the legislature can override the Governor and restore the funding – if they hear from you.

 

 

 

Every year, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and its coalition partners advocate for important reproductive health initiatives to be adequately funded in the Massachusetts Budget. Thanks to your activism, all of our priorities were included in the budget recommendation that is now on its way to the Governor!

 

Below are the specific funding levels released by the Conference Committee on July 3, 2008. They reflect the committee’s effort to reconcile the two different FY 2009 budget proposals that were passed by the Massachusetts House and Senate:

 

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs: Massachusetts has heard a lot about teen pregnancy this spring. Recent increases in teen pregnancy rates in communities like Gloucester and increases in teen birth rates in low-income communities illustrate how important it is to fully fund teen pregnancy prevention programs that have been proven to work. The legislature has fully funded this line item (4530-9000) at 4 million dollars.
 
Family Planning Funding: Teen pregnancy rates can also be addressed by increased funding to family planning services. Comprehensive family planning programs provide health education and counseling, gynecological exams and cancer screenings, treatment of STIs, HIV counseling and testing, and contraceptive supplies and devices on a sliding fee scale. The legislature has increased funding for family planning services within this line item (4513-1000) to 6 million dollars, an increase of $400,000 that can be used to serve more consumers, increase comprehensive family planning services, and follow up with at-risk populations.

 

Health Disparities: Another topic that Massachusetts is hearing about is racial and ethnic health disparities. There are wide disparities in health care access and health outcomes here in the Commonwealth. Until we address them, we cannot guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding her own reproductive health. The legislature has provided language and funding (4000-0300) for a new office of health equity to address these disparities in Massachusetts.

 

 

 

Every year, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and its coalition partners advocate for important reproductive health initiatives to be adequately funded in the Massachusetts Budget.

 

The Massachusetts Senate will be considering amendments to the FY 2009 budget the week of May 19. Sadly, the current budget doesn’t adequately fund key initiatives to promote the health and well being of teens and underserved communities.

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts is supporting the following amendments:

 

Senator Karen Spilka's amendment to line item 4530-9000 to increase funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs. Although these programs have been proven to work, they have suffered from inadequate funding for many years. With rising health care costs and increases in teen birth rates in low-income communities, we cannot afford to cut funding to these programs.

 

Senator Dianne Wilkerson's amendment to reinstate line item 4000-0622, which provides language and modest funding for a new office of health equity to address racial and ethnic health disparities. There are wide disparities in health care access and health outcomes here in the Commonwealth. Until we address them, we cannot guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding her own reproductive health.

 

Senator Dianne Wilkerson's amendment to allot one million dollars within line item 4512-0103 to HIV/AIDS disparities within communities of color. There are striking differences in the rates of HIV infection and AIDS-related illness by race and ethnicity here and women of color are at particular risk. To address these inequities, we must focus resources on those who are most affected.

 

 

 

The budget recommendations that are currently before the state House of Representatives have cut funding for important reproductive health programs like teen pregnancy prevention and leave out key initiatives to promote the health and well being of teens and underserved communities. The House will be debating the budget in the coming days.

 

 

 

Comprehensive family planning programs provide health education and counseling, gynecological exams and cancer screenings, treatment of STIs, HIV counseling and testing, family planning counseling, and contraceptive supplies and devices on a sliding fee scale. The additional funds would be expended to serve more consumers, increase comprehensive family planning services including HIV counseling and testing, and fund community-based health education, outreach and follow up with at-risk populations. These cost-effective services significantly reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies, abortion, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections and their consequences.

 

 

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts supports reversing the proposed cuts to the line item for teen pregnancy prevention programs and providing the line item with level funding from last year at $4,000,000. This is not the time to cut these important programs. Preliminary national 2006 birth data indicates an overall increase in the rate of teen births, illustrating the need for more resources, not less, to go towards teen pregnancy prevention. Also, Massachusetts’ disparity in teen birth rates by race/ethnicity is among the most severe in the country. The teen birth rate among Latina teens (73.2 per 1,000 teen girls) is almost 6 times that of white teens (12.9), and twice the rate of black teens (36.4).

 

 

This modest request would provide the funding necessary to study and issue a report on the status of comprehensive health education in the Commonwealth. Many districts across the Commonwealth do not teach health education. It is important to identify these gaps so that we can determine how best to direct state resources to empower young people to make informed decisions about reproductive health.

 

 

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts also supports Governor Deval Patrick's proposal to create a new office that would address racial and ethnic health disparities across the Commonwealth, including unequal health risks, access to health care, and quality of treatment affecting people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Racial and ethnic disparities in the healthcare system must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to ensure that every resident of Massachusetts has access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services. The new office would streamline the process of addressing these important issues.