Time to Defund FPHS by Jim Schmidt
Facing a massive budget deficit, Wisconsin's lawmakers spent much of this year debating how to fund education, BadgerCare, and other worthy programs. With limited dollars to go around, it's time to cut off public funding for Family Planning Health Services. It's not in the state's best interests to prop up an organization that peddles birth control to teens.
Desperately clinging to generous funding, FPHS executive director Lon Newman has misled the public by claiming his services save Wisconsin money by reducing the prevalence of teen pregnancy and STDs. But 50 years of history conclusively demonstrate family planning programs have failed to reduce these devastating epidemics.
In fact, some studies have even found that programs like those promoted by FPHS correspond with drastic increases in teen pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted disease. How can this be? Harvard University AIDS expert Edward Green describes a phenomenon called "risk compensation," where access to condoms actually fosters a sense of invincibility, which lowers inhibitions, leading to an increase in risky behavior.
This explosion in risky behavior explains why widespread condom distribution has failed to slow the AIDS epidemic in developing nations and why easy access to contraception has led to an epidemic of teen promiscuity and the social problems that accompany it.
Newman argues that "Knowledge is better than ignorance," and it's a shame he doesn't extend that adage to his own agenda. It only makes sense to continue funding FPHS if we ignore the organization's failure to put a dent in the state's teen pregnancy and STD rates.
But that's not the only case of Newman promoting ignorance. FPHS lobbied for the "right" to provide contraceptives behind parents' backs to children as young as 15! These laws make it illegal for medical professionals to tell parents that they are providing birth control to their children. Apparently Newman would prefer parents to remain ignorant about both their children's sexual exploits and the powerful contraceptive steroids he provides them.
State financing of Family Planning Health Services isn't just a failed policy, however. It's also a policy that encourages illegal behavior. The age of sexual consent in Wisconsin is 16. Yet FPHS proudly distributes contraception to kids as young as 15.
Look at it this way: if you sold cigarettes to kids younger than 18, you'd be prosecuted. If you sold a shotgun to the same kids, you'd be prosecuted.
But when Family Planning Health Services facilitates sex for kids under 16, it's rewarded with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wisconsin's taxpayers. In no other situation do Wisconsin taxpayers fund organizations that promote and facilitate criminal activity.
Finally, when Newman claims FPHS doesn't perform or refer for abortions, he's skirting the issue. The truth is that FPHS's "all options counseling" provides teens with information on where to get an abortion and how to finance it. The no referrals policy only means FPHS employees will not schedule the abortion for kids. But they do give children everything they need to do it themselves.
While working families struggle to cover their mortgages or send their children to college, it makes absolutely no sense to tax them to fund the promiscuity of others. It's time to defund Family Planning Health Services.
Jim Schmidt is the leader of Pro-Life Wisconsin Juneau County. This column is endorsed by Pro-Life Wisconsin (www.prolifewisconsin.org); Wisconsin Family Action, (www.wisconsinfamilyaction.org); 40 Days For Life Wausau (www.40daysforlife.com/Wausau); Morality In Media (www.moralityinmedia.org); and Concerned Parents and Citizens.
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Facing a massive budget deficit, Wisconsin's lawmakers spent much of this year debating how to fund education, BadgerCare, and other worthy programs. With limited dollars to go around, it's time to cut off public funding for Family Planning Health Services. It's not in the state's best interests to prop up an organization that peddles birth control to teens.
State financing of Family Planning Health Services isn't just a failed policy, however. It's also a policy that encourages illegal behavior. The age of sexual consent in Wisconsin is 16. Yet FPHS proudly distributes contraception to kids as young as 15.
Look at it this way: if you sold cigarettes to kids younger than 18, you'd be prosecuted. If you sold a shotgun to the same kids, you'd be prosecuted.
But when Family Planning Health Services facilitates sex for kids under 16, it's rewarded with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wisconsin's taxpayers. In no other situation do Wisconsin taxpayers fund organizations that promote and facilitate criminal activity.
Finally, when Newman claims FPHS doesn't perform or refer for abortions, he's skirting the issue. The truth is that FPHS's "all options counseling" provides teens with information on where to get an abortion and how to finance it. The no referrals policy only means FPHS employees will not schedule the abortion for kids. But they do give children everything they need to do it themselves.
While working families struggle to cover their mortgages or send their children to college, it makes absolutely no sense to tax them to fund the promiscuity of others. It's time to defund Family Planning Health Services.
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Marathon County Public Library officials were wrong to block a screening of an anti-abortion film at the downtown Wausau library. They should reverse their decision and offer an apology to the group, 40 Days for Life, that had its event wrongly canceled.
According to Marathon County Corporation Counsel Scott Corbett, a planned screening of the film "Blood Money" by Wausau's 40 Days for Life chapter was canceled because library Director Ralph Illick believed planned protests against the film would disrupt the library's normal business.
That argument won't fly. It effectively punishes the group for something someone else might do.
In fact, that policy would give veto power to any outside group that threatened to protest at the library. Imagine that a group of white supremacists wanted to picket a Hmong Association event. Should the library cancel the Hmong group's event? Obviously not.
Part of what is so valuable about libraries is that they are public spaces open to anyone. Libraries have a special role in protecting the public discourse. The Marathon County Public Library's stated meeting room policy is the right one, offering space to groups "on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups." That openness ensures that the library can be used as a forum for all sorts of groups, exactly as it should be.
Nor is the library's suggestion Tuesday that the group move the screening to a different location a reasonable compromise. The library cannot make itself the arbiter of a group's content, period. If 40 Days for Life is forced to move, then the library would find itself in the business of determining which events are controversial and which aren't.
This point is important: The content of the film makes no difference. We have not seen "Blood Money" and make no comment about it. The First Amendment principle in this case would apply equally to a reasonable, thoughtful film and to an offensive, propagandistic one.
In fact, we'd go further in our defense of First Amendment rights. Not only does 40 Days for Life have a right to screen its film, but also the abortion rights protesters have a First Amendment freedom to protest that screening.
The library can impose certain reasonable limits on protests. Protesters can't march in and out of a quiet study area with bullhorns. But we've seen a lot of local protests recently, and we expect that any protesters would understand and comply with these sorts of reasonable limitations.
The right approach for the library is not to try to keep that conflict from happening but to allow people with differing views to put their ideas out in public to be debated.
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20110331/WDH06/103310382/Our-View-Library-should-forum-open-all?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p
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Dear Editor,
As a woman myself, it's maddening to have this man speaking as though he truly cares about my health, when in fact, he regularly promotes things that have the potential to be detrimental to my reproductive health. A medication without possible side effects does not exist, yet the birth control pill, and several other artificial hormone replacements are presented as "natural and harmless". The truth is that several studies show that these pills that we are so eager to push as early as middle school clearly show their potential for detrimental side effects ranging from blood clots and strokes, all the way to cancer. Are they indicated at times....I'm sure they are, but they should not be used so indiscriminately as Mr. Newman cares to promote.
Even more frustrating to me, though, is the statement that my fertility is somehow preventing me from "participating fully in this society". I would like to ask Mr. Newman what he defines as full participation. I imagine that our definitions would be extremely different, as I tend to believe that accepting children as the most amazing blessings that they are, and then investing all I have into raising them to be great, is about the most productive that I can be. Just as Lon Newman is entitled to his view, there are those of us who believe that reproductive health is actually about reproducing. I believe that teaching children about the beauty of sexual relations within the context of marriage is both responsible and a great gift to them. The article on Newman clearly opposes abstinence training, but there exist several reliable studies that show its effectiveness. And no matter what a person chooses to promote, no one can deny that abstinence is the ONLY method of birth control that is 100% effective in preventing unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Promoting the birth control pill and giving out free condoms to children hardly responsible or reliable enough to consistently use them, seems somewhat unwise. And to then promote giving these prescription medications to teen girls without parental knowledge or consent is extremely concerning and hardly "worth watching" as the City Pages would encourage us to do.
Lastly, I am disappointed in the author of this article who refers to people who meet on a regular basis to peacefully and quietly pray outside of Family Planning Health Services as "picketers". I know that when I hear the word "picketers", I imagine something very different than the actual people and activities that you are describing. I can plainly see that the opinion of this author is that all of Newman's opinions and goals are good ones. In this great country, however, we are allowed to differ in our opinions and express those that we desire and aspire to provide truthful information to people willing to receive it about the beauty of life and truly healthy reproduction. In fact, plans are under way for a community-wide prayer effort, called the power of peaceful prayer and community educating, and is all about promoting and protecting life. We would prefer to be referred to as prayer warriors, rather than picketers, and would welcome the participation of anyone interested!
Sara Ryan