House Passes Children's Health Insurance Bill That Would Extend Abstinence Education Program For Two Years

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 06 Aug 2007 - 3:00 PST

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The House on Wednesday voted 225-204 to approve a bill (HR 3162) that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP and also make revisions to Medicare, the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 8/2). The bill also would extend a federal abstinence education program for two years and fund it at $50 million annually, CQ Today reports.

Under the bill, states would have the option to accept funds for abstinence-only sex education programs or for programs that promote abstinence and also teach "those who are currently sexually active or at risk of sexual activity about additional methods to prevent unintended pregnancy or reduce health risks." The bill also would require all programs that receive funding to provide medically accurate information and demonstrate effectiveness in reducing rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV.

According to CQ Today, Democratic leaders might have "found a way to take a politically contentious issue off the table" by expanding the abstinence program, which many moderates support. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who supports the abstinence education program, said, "I'm comfortable with [the bill] as long as states have the option." He added, "A lot of us had concerns about it. We'd like to see it continue." However, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Nev.) said, "I'm not comfortable with [the change] because the dollars for abstinence [education] are rare." He added, "To be able to take the rare abstinence dollar and convert it into sex ed is inappropriate" (Allen, CQ Today, 8/1).

Other Provisions, Outlook
The bill also would allow states to provide family planning services without receiving federal approval, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The measure also would provide partial funding to states to provide health insurance to cover low-income pregnant women and documented immigrant children up to age 24 (Walsh, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 8/2). Five Republicans and 220 Democrats voted to approve the bill, while 194 Republicans and 10 Democrats voted against it. According to the Times, President Bush has threatened to veto the House bill, as well as a "more modest bipartisan measure" on SCHIP that the Senate is expected to pass this week (New York Times, 8/2).

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