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The Prevention First Act Deserves a Hearing
Ask Representative John White (R-Kettering), Chair of the Ohio House Health Committee, to hold a hearing on the Ohio Prevention First Act.
The Ohio Prevention First Act (HB 588) was introduced in May 2006 and deserves a hearing this year.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please Put Prevention First!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Please schedule a hearing for House Bill 588 - the Ohio Prevention First Act. Ohio ranks 48th among US states and Washington DC when it comes to its efforts to help women prevent unintended pregnancies. This is unacceptable. Ohio families need birth control and real sex-ed, not bans and restrictions.
Investing in family planning services and medically-accurate sexuality education programs is a responsible use of tax dollars. Meanwhile ensuring broad and timely access to birth control (including emergency birth control) is the most effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy - the top cause of abortion.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
November 29, 2006
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During the 2005-2006 legislative session, the Ohio House Health Committee heard an unprecedented number of anti-choice bills - including an all day hearing of the Ohio Abortion Ban. Please ask the Chair of the Health Commitee to consider a bill proposing real health care - not bans and restrictions.
Why Prevention First?
Nearly 50% of all pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended, one of the highest unintended pregnancy rates among Industrialized nations. We need common sense solutions to this problem.
Reducing the unintended pregnancy rate will reduce the number of abortions. Half of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion, by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies we can safely reduce the number of abortions
Increased access to emergency contraception (EC) is an effective way to reduce unintended pregnancy and the number of abortions. A 2002 study revealed that EC use was likely responsible for up to 43% of the decline in the number of abortions in the United States between 1994 and 2000.
Last year, 13% of the female students at Timken Senior High School in Canton, Ohio were pregnant– that’s 64 young women facing unintended pregnancies. Ohio has the 28th highest teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. Students deserve honest scientifically proven methods of sexuality education so that the have the life skills to prevent pregnancy when they decide to be sexually active.
What the Ohio Prevention First Act will do:
Launch a Teen Pregnancy Prevention grant program through the Ohio Department of Health to award grants to public and private entities to establish or expand programs geared towards at-risk youth.
Restore state-funding for family planning programs.
Establish an emergency contraception education program through the Ohio Department of Health to educate medical professionals and the general public about emergency contraception.
Forbid a health insurance company from limiting or excluding coverage for FDA-approved prescription contraception if the policy covers other prescription drugs or devices.
Allow pharmacists to dispense EC without a prescription, after completing a training program.
Require sex education classes to provide students with medically accurate information about abstinence, contraception and condom use as ways to prevent unintended pregnancies and STDs including HIV/AIDS. Sex education programs that do not follow these guidelines are not eligible for state grant funding.
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