Seven Pro-Family Gifts from Congress
Welcome to Opposite Day! This weekend I'll be calling attention to seven family-friendly provisions in the omnibus bill (and five more D.C. specific presents tomorrow), which the Heritage Family has oddly dubbed "Twelve Anti-Family Gifts from Congress." Weird.
There's more that needs to be done (and funded) on just about all of these issues, but because Heritage was nice enough to give me the gift of such an easy blog post, I'll shove aside the criticism for today and accentuate the positive.
1. Bye-bye abstinence "education": The omnibus spending bill redirects the money wasted on inaccurate, intolerant, and ineffective abstinence-only "education" to comprehensive sex ed programs. Though Heritage tries to fiddles with the facts, their own study shows that a full three-fourths of parents want contraception taught right alongside abstinence -- which is exactly what comprehensive sex ed does, in contrast to abstinence-only programs that by definition exclude discussion of safe-sex practices.
2. "Spreading the Wealth": The new budget includes "a 30 percent increase over President Bush's last year in office on means-tested welfare programs such as housing, food stamps, and health care." Why Heritage, I couldn't have put it better myself -- Bush is out and Obama is helping low-income families!
3. Clean needles for all: With the HIV/AIDS epidemic raging fierce in the United States, Congress has finally overturned the two decades old ban on needle exchange programs, one of the most cost-effective (and just plain effective) means we have of turning the tide on a deadly disease that is definitely not family-friendly. Former prez Bill Clinton on having allowed the ban: "I was wrong." Can I hear that again? "The evidence shows that [syringe exchange] doesn't lead to increased drug usage." Boo-yah for fixing it under Barack.
4. Ponying up for family planning: An extra $10 million goes to helping make sure that every child is a wanted child, with a chunk of this Title IX change directed toward Planned Parenthood.
5. Dough for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): Congress is giving $5 million to support UNFPA's efforts to "ensure that every pregnancy is wanted" and to meet their Millennium Development Goals, which include universal reproductive health care and primary education, lowering maternal and infant mortality rates, and slowing down the spread of HIV. Contrary to conservative belief, UNFPA has zero intention of or desire to aid forced abortion under China's one-child policy.
6. $$$ for organizations freed from the Global Gag Rule: Taking advantage of President Obama's decision to give a voice to women and banish the ban on funding groups that provide abortion around the world, Congress is sending a $100 million care package to finally support such vital reproductive health organizations.
7. Turning back the conservative tide on the radio waves: It would be pretty awesome if Congress' decision to be rid of the prohibition against federal funds being used to enforce the "Fairness Doctrine" put the kibosh on right-wing hate talk radio programs, as Heritage alleges. It's unlikely, in truth; but anything that helps to make the presentation of significant controversial issues (such as sex education, family planning, abortion, marriage equality, same-sex adoption) more truly "fair and balanced," as the tagline goes, gets filed in the family-friendly column.
Don't forget: check tomorrow's post for Opposite Day continued, D.C.-style!
Alex DiBranco
is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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