by Lilly Gioia

Fifteen years ago Congress created the Teen Pregnancy Program to reduce adolescent birth rates. Since then Teen Pregnancy Prevention has seen births decline by roughly 72%. Experts attribute the decline in fewer teens deciding to have sex earlier, to sex education and better access to contraception, especially for girls. In its 2025 budget the Trump administration promptly cut funding for this successful program. Last June they canceled 53 of 67 Teen Pregnancy Program grants worth about $68 million. The reason:
These 53 organizations did not align with new Health & Human Services priories which now emphasize counseling teenagers on ABSTINANCE ONLY and FERTILITY TRACKING, while affirming marriage and parenthood.

Grants to universities, community organizations, city and state health departments and Planned Parenthood in more than two dozen states were canceled two years before their expiration dates. A $1.2 million grant to Philadelphia’s Access Matters group, which is entirely federally funded, ended free sexual and reproductive health programs to more than 1,100 teens between the ages of 13 and 19.

In late August a federal judge paused the Health & Human Services abstinence overhaul, according to the PA Women’s Law Project. WLP Attorney Christine Castro said the funding cuts were already compromising the program and youth access generally. They are “depriving teens access to accurate information about contraception, sexually transmitted infections and health care referrals.” While the judge’s ruling temporarily blocks HHS from implementing the sweeping new abstinence only grant criteria, the injunction does not restore the nearly $70 million lost.

As detrimental as these cuts and others to Title X contraception funding provided for low-income Americans are, as Unitarian Universalists, we can be grateful that our church, long ago took seriously the sex education of our young people. In conjunction with the Church of Christ, the UU Our Whole Lives age-appropriate sex education program has been acknowledged by experts as one of the best in the country.

From personal experience as an adult religious education leader trained to present the Our Whole Lives program, I saw what a difference it made in the lives of the teenagers who participated. We are fortunate to belong to a faith community so dedicated to the religious education and well-being of our children, especially at a time when our present federal government is slashing education funding and children’s health care through Medicaid, to give tax breaks to corporations and the already wealthy.

I would suggest calling your Congressman about restoring funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, but the House of Representatives left Washington early. They won’t return until after the November election. It’s possible that this Republican-controlled Congress has broken the record for spending the least amount of time working and passing the fewest bills of any other Congress.

by Stella Dubish

You want to help, but you are strapped for time.  You want to do something, but you are overwhelmed by the number and complexity of causes out there in the world.  You want to take action, but overt political protest is not the right fit for your capabilities or personality.

No problem!  The Social Action Committee of this very UU congregation wants you to know that there are many ways to advance justice right here in our congregation, right here in our community.  First, your presence in our services bears witness to justice and injustice and creates a community of trust, love, and support. Second, if and when you contribute to the Sunday collection, you are supporting justice at multiple levels.  In the last fiscal year, this congregation sent $3,400 to organizations that sustain and respect the Earth, uphold the dignity and rights of our neighbors far and wide, and eliminate racism.  Third, every time you bring a canned good or household supply to this food pantry, you are contributing to food justice for more than 700 individuals in the region.  Finally, did you know that members of this congregation, over the last year, have volunteered hundreds of hours to support immigrant rights, voter rights, and environmental justice in our community?  Examples include distributing food, teaching citizenship classes, and serving as poll workers on Election Day.

The Social Action Committee wants you to know two things:
Your very presence in this community strengthens the collective work toward justice.
There are many ways for you to get involved, even if your time is limited, your spirit is burdened, or your proclivities are for quiet actions.  Here are a few ways to get involved.

• Share the social action information with a friend outside this circle.
  
• Continue or start making a contribution, however small, to the Sunday Collection for a Cause.
• Attend a Social Action Committee meeting - first Tuesday of every month - to hear more practical information about needs and actions in our community.
• Speak to a member of the committee - Brian, me, Matt are here today - about ideas for a step you could take that fits you.

by Brian Dugas

There’s a lot going on in the world, but I figured I’d provide you an update on the current situation with mail in voting across the country. Until I started doing some research for this Social Action Minute, I wasn’t sure what was happening, but it’s important for us to stay informed so we can make the right choices.

In March of this year the President issued an Executive Order with new mail in voting guidance, and directed the USPS to create new rules:

• Requiring states to give USPS a list of all voters eligible to receive a ballot in the mail.
  
• Requiring USPS to use those lists to determine which ballots get sent to voters.
  
• USPS is tasked with drafting details on how the system would work including a portal for states to upload the voters information and backend software to track and potentially block ballots.
  

Of course this started a flurry of lawsuits challenging this Executive Order, and a federal court temporarily blocked the requirements of the states but it is expected to go to the Supreme Court before the November elections.

A whistleblower has come forward and reported that the USPS has continued to plan for the Executive Order in spite of the court order, and that the planning is rushed and sloppy, which is particularly dangerous because of the directive to reject an entire batch if they include just one unverifiable ballot.

“As presently designed, if even one bar code on one single ballot in a bulk mailing of 10,000 ballots fails to properly scan during the verification process, the entire batch is rejected and sent back to the state.”

Meanwhile in Pennsylvania:

• PA has refused to hand over confidential or unredacted identifying voter data. 
  
• PA Supreme Court has ruled that ballot voters are entitled to be notified if they make a disqualifying mistake on their ballot so they can vote provisional.

What you can do:

• Use the pa state gov website to check your voter registration status and to track your mail in ballot: www.pavoterservices.pa.gov.
  
• Contact your county voter registration Director Emily Cook at 570-825-1715 if there are questions or problems.
• If you are a mail in voter, have another plan in place just in case: there are drop boxes, you have a right to request a provisional ballot if there is a problem with your mail in ballot.
• Get out and Vote, and help others make their plans if you know there might be a problem.