FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
CONTACT:
|
Bill
Barker |
| October
9, 1998 |
|
(202)
419-3420 |
House Votes
to Mandate Parental Notification for Teens Seeking Contraception
at Title X Family Planning Clinics
Contraceptive Care
to more than 1.9 Million Young People Placed in Jeopardy
The stunning House vote last night to deny teens confidentiality
at Title X clinics represents a major blow to the nation's
young people. Fewer than 20% of teens currently using Title
X clinics for contraceptives and care for sexually transmitted
infections would continue if this legislation is enacted.[1]
This legislation will have an enormously negative impact
on the nation's 12 million sexually active teens. Establishing
new barriers to care when each year 800,000 teenagers become
pregnant, three million teens contract an STI, and young
people under age 25 comprise half of new HIV infections is
tantamount to denying them services altogether. By age 18,
71% of teens have had sexual intercourse and the Number
1 reason teens wait nine to 18 months to seek family planning
services after initiating sexual activity is fear of discovery.
Title X clinics provide contraceptives to about 1.9 million
teens each year, many of whom are teen moms trying to avoid
a second pregnancy, and many providers follow their standards
and guidelines for health care delivery to young people.
These publicly subsidized clinics annually avert 385,800
teen pregnancies, preventing 154,700 teen births and 183,300
abortions. If confidentiality disappears, it will cripple
these services and may impact how all doctors dispense care.
Coupled with Congressional legislation passed in 1996 to
fund education that promotes only abstinence education, effectively
creating a gag rule on education about contraception and
the effective prevention of HIV/AIDS, this new action puts
the health of millions of young people in jeopardy. The Senate
must not join in this damaging effort.
###
1 Marks,
A., Malizio, J., Hoch, J., Brody, R. & Fisher, M.,
Assessment of health needs and willingness to utilize health
care resources of adolescents, Journal of Pediatrics, 1983;
102.
Note to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set up an
interview with adolescent sexuality experts, please contact Bill Barker at
(202) 419-3420.
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