Colorado lawmakers should come together to figure out how to continue funding the much-debated but successful state program that provides birth control to teenage girls and women.
However, the scheme by House Democrats to fol the House version of the $25 billion budget was a mistake.
First of all, the Senate on Friday rejected the House’s version of the spending bill, sending the matter to a conference committee to work out the differences. It is unlikely the program’s funding will survive there.
Secondly, the move to attach the program’s spending request to the bill may be against a state law that forbids the legislature to pay for a program that was previously funded through grants.
Democrats say the move is legal because the state has long funded family planning matters and this request is merely an adjustment. Republicans counter that the money clearly replaces funding that had been provided by a grant. An anonymous donor has been supporting the program through a five-year, $23 million grant that ends in June.
Legal or not, the Democrats’ move violates the spirit of the law against appropriating money for grant-funded programs. The proper way to fund the program is through the legislative process, which is exactly the purpose of House Bill 1194.
That legislation is unfortunately in danger in the Republican-led Senate, where some social conservatives won’t support the legislation because they believe IUDs cause abortions, a claim rejected by the medical community.
We would hope the Senate would come to its senses and recognize the benefits of the program. The Colorado Family Planning Initiative has clearly helped drive down the teen pregnancy rate in the state by providing more than 30,000 contraceptive implants or intrauterine devices for little to no cost to low-income women across Colorado.
program has produced a 42 percent decline in the teen abortion rate and a 39 percent drop in teen births over five years. Even if that relationship is exaggerated, teen birth rates in Colorado have declined more rapidly than in any other state.
In addition, Medicaid birth-related costs dropped by $49 million between 2010 and 2012.
Why would anyone want to mess with something that is working so well? Lawmakers must find funding for the program to continue, but they need to do it the right way.
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