NH Executive Council Casts Fourth Vote To Delay Optional Sex Education Program

CONCORD - On Wednesday, November 2, Executive Council members Joe Kenney, Ted Gatsas, and Dave Wheeler cast a fourth vote against routine contracts for a comprehensive sex education and teen parent resource program. This time, Councilor Stevens joined them by refusing to even second the motion from Councilor Warmington to take the contract off the table. Councilor Stevens had previously voted to remove the item. These contracts have been tabled since September 21, 2022. Councilors Kenney, Gatsas, and Wheeler have all approved funding for these exact programs in previous years. 

At the last Governor and Council meeting, Commissioner Shibinette confirmed the program is for "vulnerable populations. We're talking about kids in foster care, kids that have been trafficked. Kids that have already had a baby trying to prevent a second pregnancy." 

Councilor Warmington confirmed that all requested materials by Councilors in the last meeting were received last week, including a comprehensive parent consent form required for teens’ participation. None of the councilors who requested this information commented in today’s meeting.

Without these federal funds, the after-school programs in Manchester and Claremont cannot continue; TLC in Claremont has already canceled Fall classes.

Statement from Liz Canada, Advocacy Manager for PPNNE/Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund:

“Time and again over the last two years, the majority of New Hampshire’s Executive Council has ignored our state’s public health officials’ recommendations to put their personal anti-abortion politics before the health and wellbeing of their constituents. By gutting the family planning program and rejecting routine funding for after-school sex education, the Executive Council has jeopardized New Hampshire’s capacity to reduce rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in our state at a time when the landscape of reproductive health care nationwide is in chaos because of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now is not the time to risk the ability of trusted community organizations to deliver what could be life-saving information and support.”

BACKGROUND:

Previous Statements from Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund:

• October 19, 2022
• October 6, 2022

Additional Information:

• Op-ed from Amoskeag Health, an organization that delivers the curriculum in Manchester.
• Item #17A provides funding for community providers in Hillsborough and Sullivan Counties to facilitate the Personal Responsibility Education Programs (PREP) to adolescents, which includes evidence-based sexual health education on abstinence and contraception. The program requires parental consent of youth participation.
  • The program is targeted toward adolescents who are at high risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections (19 years or younger), or pregnant/parents (21 years or younger), including but not limited to:
    • Homeless youth
    • Foster care
    • Living with HIV/AIDS
    • Victims of human trafficking

• The State PREP program is federally funded by the Family & Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) and is administered by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS), Division of Public Health Services (NH DPHS).
• Even before this pandemic, STI rates were on the rise in New Hampshire, with syphilis and gonorrhea rates increasing again in recent years -- and research shows COVID-19 has further interrupted STI screenings. Chlamydia and Gonorrhea rates are highest in Hillsborough county. 
  • Young people between the ages of 13 and 24 represent 32% of all gonorrhea cases in New Hampshire; for chlamydia, they represent 63% of cases in the state.
• New Hampshire has some of the lowest rates of unintended pregnancy rates and teen pregnancy rates in the country, in but they are higher in Sullivan county than other parts of the state.

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Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) is the largest provider of reproductive and sexual health care across the State of New Hampshire. We serve New Hampshire residents through 5 health centers in Derry, Exeter, Keene, Manchester and White River Junction, VT. Last year we saw more than 10,000 patients at these sites. PPNNE was named a 2021 Guardian of Excellence Award^® winner by Press Ganey, the national leader in health care consumer and workforce engagement. Press Ganey recognizes PPNNE as a top-performing health care organization, achieving the 95^th percentile or above for performance in patient experience, out of more than 20,000 medical practices.

Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund (PPNHAF) is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in New Hampshire. The Action Fund engages in educational and electoral activity, including voter education, grassroots organizing, and legislative advocacy.