#527
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 08:11:34 -0500
From: Mark Temple <matempl@ILSTU.EDU>
Subject: Fwd: Policy Update - Secretary Tommy Thompson

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>March 21, 2001
>
>Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson:
>Where He Is On the Issues
>
>No single person or agency in Washington, DC, has a monopoly on issues
>related to sexual and reproductive health. Yet the U.S. Secretary of the
>Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plays a key domestic role
>in establishing health-related programs and policies that affect the
>heart of each community across this country.
>
>For example, President Clinton declared teen pregnancy a national
>emergency in his 1995 State of the Union Address, but it was former HHS
>Secretary Donna Shalala who led such high-profile efforts to address
>this crisis as the National Strategy to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the
>“Girl Power!” Initiative. The President may set the agenda, but the HHS
>Secretary puts his agenda into operation.
>
>The United States’ Senate unanimously confirmed former Wisconsin
>Governor Tommy Thompson last January as HHS Secretary in the new Bush
>Administration. During Thompson’s confirmation hearings, Senator Russ
>Feingold (D-WI) described Thompson as “someone we can rely on to address
>the tough issues by bringing Wisconsin’s ‘can do’ attitude to
>Washington.” However, that “can do” attitude possibly suggests mixed
>results for sexual and reproductive health when Thompson’s Wisconsin
>record is scrutinized more closely.
>
>ABORTION
>
>On the issue of abortion, Thompson opposes a woman’s right to choose.
>While he does provide for exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and the
>protection of a mother’s life, his moderate positions end at that point.
>As Wisconsin Governor, he has signed three separate pieces of
>legislation curtailing reproductive rights.
>
>In 1998, Thompson signed legislation banning so-called “partial birth”
>abortions and creating mandatory life imprisonment for providers
>performing the procedure (1997 Wisconsin Act 219). In 1996, he signed a
>bill requiring that women both receive in-person counseling on the
>procedure and wait 24 hours following this counseling before being
>permitted to terminate a pregnancy (1995 Wisconsin Act 309). Finally, in
>1992, he signed into law a parental consent requirement for
>unemancipated minors seeking an abortion (1991 Wisconsin Act 263).
>
>SEXUALITY EDUCATION
>
>On the whole, Wisconsin does not have a state mandate requiring schools
>to provide sexuality education even though schools are encouraged to
>include instruction in both abstinence and contraception in their
>curricula. There is also a statewide “opt-out” provision that allows
>parents to withdraw students from sexuality education instruction with a
>written request. Finally, the state requires schools to provide STD and
>HIV instruction in any courses offered in health education.
>
>Thompson’s own actions in this area are somewhat disjointed. On one
>hand, Wisconsin used its federal abstinence-only-until-marriage
>education dollars to undertake a media campaign when Thompson was
>governor. As a result, Focus on the Family’s National Coalition for
>Abstinence Education (NCAE) gave Wisconsin a not-so-embracing grade of
>“C.” On the other hand, The National Abortion Rights Action League
>(NARAL) reports that in response to a 1998 survey by Project Vote Smart,
>Thompson said he supported sexuality education that stressed abstinence.
>He did not indicate that he supported sexuality education that stressed
>safe sexual practices.
>
>FAMILY PLANNING
>
>Thompson appears most friendly to sexual and reproductive health on the
>issue of family planning. During his confirmation hearings, reproductive
>health advocates were successful in requesting that Senator Patty Murray
>(D-WA) query Thompson on this issue. Having heard that he had “a really
>strong record in support of comprehensive family planning services,”
>Senator Murray asked if he would give assurances that Title X family
>planning services would be a top priority at HHS. He replied:
>“Absolutely, Senator Murray.” He also enjoined: “I believe Title X has a
>great deal of bipartisan support.”
>
>CONCLUSION
>
>The pressure is already underway for Thompson to make changes at his
>department. For example, Focus on the Family wants Secretary Thompson to
>institute an order directing Title X-funded family planning programs to
>notify parents when their children are receiving such services.
>
>In a March 19, 2001 article, “Title X Changes Sought,” Focus on the
>Family correspondent Stuart Shepard concluded that while such a
>regulatory change would be met with court action, “It’s still the right
>thing to do.” (Read the entire article at
>http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0015268.html.)
>
>Yet Focus on the Family has raised questions on more issues than just
>parental notification. Within the same article, Focus on the Family's
>Amy Stephens said, “Should we not de-fund some of Title X and give that
>money to abstinence organizations?”
>
>The specifics of how Secretary Thompson will address issues related to
>sexual and reproductive health will become clearer as he transitions
>into his new role. With less than two months at the helm, there are more
>questions than answers. SIECUS will keep our advocates abreast of
>important and timely issues.
>
>For more information on the general landscape of sexuality- and
>reproductive health-related laws and policies in Wisconsin, consult
>NARAL’s Who Decides publication at
>http://www.naral.org/mediaresources/publications/2001/whod.html
>
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________________________________

Health Education at Illinois State University
Leadership Compassion Courage Innovation

Mark A. Temple, PhD
ISU Campus Mail 5220
Normal, IL 61790-5220
309-438-2324
309 -438-2450 FAX
matempl@ilstu.edu
<http://www.cast.ilstu.edu/temple/menu.htm>http://www.cast.ilstu.edu/newtem
ple/menu.htm

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world;
indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Meade
_______________________________

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#528
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 12:06:04 -0400
From: Todd Eisenhofer <teisenho@WVU.EDU>
Subject: Remove Name

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Please remove my name from the list-serve
Thanks,
Todd Eisenhofer

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#529
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 22:01:57 -0500
From: "Boye,Vicki" <vboye@SEWARD.CUNE.EDU>
Subject: potential grants

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This past year at Concordia University, Nebraska we started a very limited
faculty/staff wellness program with funds from my department chair's
"endowed chair". Those funds will not be available to/for this program next
year. Are any of you aware of potential grants/funding that we can go after
to help our program? We are a religious affiliated school which may limit
access to some. We are not talking about a large amounts of money, but need
to find some potential sources. Any suggestions and advice would be much
appreciated. Thanks....

Vicki Boye, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Health & PE
Concordia University
Seward, NE

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