The urgent  need to increase funding for sexual health education and services has only intensified over the last year. Instead of proposing funding increases, a House  subcommittee voted in June to advance a proposed funding bill that includes many harmful provisions that would jeopardize the reproductive well-being of millions in this country. This includes eliminating the Title X Family Planning Program (Title X) and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program.

Please urge your members of Congress to increase, not eliminate, funding for the TPP Program and Title X.

When it comes to the TPP Program:

• Increasing funding will ensure this evidence-based program, recognized by a wide range of bipartisan experts, can continue to generate high-quality research about how to meet the needs of young people—especially among those who face the greatest disparities.
• If funding for the TPP Program is eliminated, grants recently awarded to a diverse group of organizations will not be able to continue. This will end the important work underway in 29 states and Puerto Rico to replicate and scale programs that have proven effective in improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes for adolescents by reducing behavioral risk factors and promoting positive youth development. It will also end the work to innovate, provide new research, and expand the evidence to support and advance equity in the TPP program that is supported by 18 new grants awarded in August.

 When it comes to Title X:

• Increasing funding will ensure that Title X-funded clinics can continue to offer high-quality contraceptive services, preventive screenings, and health education to low-income people, people lacking health insurance, young people, and more—as they have done for the last 50 years.
• If funding for Title X is eliminated, the clinics that rely on these funds—often the only health care that many communities have access to—will have to slash these important services, further eroding access for those who already face the most barriers to health care.

 

Please take action now!