Walking the Walk: Democrats Pass Bill to Reduce Abortion

File this one under walking the walk.

For decades, Republicans have made opposition to abortion the foundation of their national coalition.  Strangely, though, they haven’t actually passed anything particularly significant to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.

The Democrats, however — long demonized for being “pro-abortion” — have now passed an initiative in the House of Representatives to cut down on the abortion rate.  Pushed mainly by Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Tim Ryan, the $647 million measure contains provisions both to prevent unwanted pregnancies and to support new parents.  This passage is the culmination of an anti-abortion effort that Rosa DeLauro announced to FaithfulDemocrats.com readers back in September.

Here’s the meat, from Ryan’s website:

Preventive provisions:

 

Access to contraceptive information and services is an important element of preventing pregnancy.  In addition to several funding increases for programs that incrase access to contraceptives, the bill also contains provisions that seek to reduce teen pregnancy.

• The first increase increase in more than six years for the Title X family planning program,
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants — a new program at CDC — to support medically accurate approaches to preventing teen pregnancies that include information about both abstinence and contraception, including the dissemination of science-based tools and strategies to prevent HIV, STD, and teen pregnancy.

Supportive provisions:

 

A number of the programs covered by the amendment are directly relevant to the needs of young women in difficult circumstances who may be deciding whether they are in a position to raise a child.  These programs include the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant and the Healthy Start program, which help provide health care and other services for pregnant women and young children lacking other access to care.  Other relevant programs include child care assistance, domestic violence prevention programs, and the variety of family supports financed through the Community Services Block Grant.  All of these programs have been seriously eroded over the past several years, and the amendment begins to reverse that erosion.

• The first increase in more than six years for the Child Care Development Block Grant
• The first increase in more than six years for the after-school programs (21st Century Community Learning Centers)
• New nurse home visitation program grants
• Adoption awareness campaign at CDC
• National Survey of Family Growth
• Domestic violence prevention

Of course, the Republicans never did a thing to help to help these measures along, which begs the question: do Republican officials (not rank-and-file voters, but officials) really care about the abortion issue?  Or do they just see it as a tool to generate votes?

Jesse welcomes comments at jesse [at] faithfuldemocrats.com.