ACLU Letter to the Senate Strongly Urging Support of the the Reid/Clinton Amendment to the FY 2007 Budget Resolution

Support the Reid/Clinton Amendment to the FY 2007 Budget Resolution —Support Reproductive Freedom By Preventing Unintended Pregnancies and Supporting Pregnant Women and Their Families

Dear Senator:

The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges you to support Senator Clinton’s and Senator Reid’s amendment to FY 2007 Budget Resolution. This comprehensive amendment will give women the tools they need to exercise their full right to reproductive freedom by supporting both programs that help women to prevent unintended pregnancies, as well as programs that support women who choose to continue their pregnancies and their families.

Nearly three million of the six million pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended, giving the U.S. one of the highest rates of unintended pregnancy in the industrialized world. This proactive initiative moves us toward the common goal of addressing this problem.

More specifically, the amendment:

• Calls for a much-needed increase in funding for Title X, the federal program that provides contraception and related services to low-income women;
• Fights insurance discrimination by requiring private health care plans to provide the same level of coverage for prescription contraception as they do for other prescription drugs and devices;
• Promotes reproductive freedom by improving awareness and access to emergency contraception;
• Helps educate teenagers about prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; and
• Provides funding for programs that support pregnant women and their families.

The ACLU urges you to support this commonsense amendment that will enable women to exercise the full range of reproductive health choices.

Sincerely,

Caroline Fredrickson, Director
Washington Legislative Office

Greg Nojeim, Associate Director
Washington Legislative Office