Tuesday, September 25, 2007

NYS Health Commissioner Richard Daines Refuses to Accept Abstinence Funding from Feds

Have you ever heard of a public official refusing money? Just how much of an ideaologue does one have to be to refuse money for a program with a proven track record of saving lives, both physically and spiritually?
Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton says the state has received about $3.7 million in abstinence funding since 1998 and the state has allocated $2.6 million annual to go along with the federal dollars.
But Health Department Commissioner Richard Daines says that will no longer be the case starting on October 1. In a statement he posted on the agency's web site on Thursday, he said, "The Bush administration's Abstinence-Only program is an example of a failed national health care policy directive."
He claims it is "based on ideology rather than on sound scientific-based evidence that must be the cornerstone of good public health care policy."

HT Life News
In keeping with the Governor Spitzer's progressive health-care agenda for New York, (advance the cause of abortions for everyone)on July 2nd the department cancelled all existing abstinence only contracts under the federal Title V program that began under the previous administration. Earlier this year, the department made a conscious decision not to reapply for funds under this program due to the increasingly rigid federal standards imposed on New York and other states that were contrary to our commitment to fully educate adolescents about the risks associated with sexual behavior. NYS Dept Health Website
What were the people of New York thinking when they elected the pro-abortion Spitzer who went after the good people running Crisis Pregnancy Centers as Attorney General, accusing them of deceiving women? Where is our Catholic leadership in this crisis?
Take action and email Governor Spitzer about this mistake made by Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines here, telling him to restore Federal funds for abstinence programs. We can and must demand better behavior from the children of New York State, and from our elected officials. Learn the truth about the effectiveness of abstinence education.

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