Anti-Illegitimate Births Grants Awarded

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Four states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands will share $100 million in federal bonuses for reducing out-of-wedlock births, the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.

snip>

"Reducing out-of-wedlock births can have a strong, positive impact on the lives of our children, and these bonuses recognize progress toward that goal," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said.

In addition to reducing out-of-wedlock births, top states also must reduce their abortion rate.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-out-of-wedlock-bonuses,0,6884048.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[meegbear]

1. And we'll do that with ...

Condoms? No.
Education? No ... hmmmmmmm ... I got it!

FAITH BASED INITIATIVES!!

[veganwitch]

2. so instead we will promote...

quick, hasty marriages that might cause undo stress and subsequent divorce on unprepared folks or promote marriage in unhealthy (physical, emotion, substance abuse) relationships.

fantastic.

[underpants]

6. Not to mention pregnancies for the $$$

That is the way the US military used to work (oh I feel the flames acomin') the more dependents you had the more money you got. It was grandfathered in '91 or '92 (Poppa Bush) and then changed. Now, and anyone joining just after the change, you either have dependents or you don't. One pay rate whether you have 1 or 5 kids.

[demdave]

9. Sounds like the reason given for changing welfare

the more dependents you had the more money you got.


:) End of the day and just thought I would share the flame.

[arwalden]

13. Precisely! You Beat Me To It...

... the fundamentalism "ideals" behind this convoluted bit of logic continues to baffle me.

Keep in mind that these are the same folks who would rather shut down ANY clinic in a 3rd world contry that offers, or educates women about the option of terminating their pregnancy.

There are none so blind...

-- Allen

[TrogL]

3. Notice it doesn't mention how they did it

Wonder how it correlates with states that do abstinence-only counselling. What do you bet there's a reverse correlation.

[Rose Siding]

5. I wouldn't be surprised

I've recently seen stats that indicate teen births decreased during the Clinton years and that wouldn't have depended on any monkeying with hocus pocus.

[jburton]

8. Clinton years

Teen pregnancy went DOWN

AND

Abortion rate went DOWN

Shows what happens when you educate rather than intimidate.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. Our country is being run by ignorant, selfish luddites with a 19th century

concept of morality....


Or you could just say... FUNDIES.

Coming to a court near you Scopes Trial Two!

[underpants]

7. Luddites? I thought they were Lutefish

:shrug:

[Kool Kitty]

20. No, they just smell like Lutefish. n/t

[SharonAnn]

15. And during the 19th century there were no illegitimate

pregnancies, right? And no prostitues, no drug use, no pornography, no sex slavery, NOT. There was all of that and more!

Victorian times were very hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another. Hmmm, sounds like today in the United States.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

17. We have people in office with a corrupted version of the past

that want to go back to it.

[sallydallas124]

10. These folks

don't spend money unless they expect to get some type of greater return. Ever since this whole marriage initative started I've wondered what their hidden motive is. I can't imagine it's only fundie nonsense. Do married people end up paying more taxes than two single?


Anyway, my SO and I are unmarried and have a son and there
ain't a damn thing you can do about it bush & tommy :P

[JitterbugPerfume]

11. Good for you

I hate it when the government sticks its nose in my womb

especially THOSE ugly goobers

[bleedingheart]

14. Married people pay less taxes than two singles

but since you have a child ...that may not be the case...

Personally aside from birth control I don't know how they can change the out of wedlock birth rate and there are different variations of out of wedlock..

1. Adults who choose to have a child out of wedlock and who are able to provide for the child.

2. Children and adults who get pregnant without thinking through the consequences as well.

The positive thing is that society has embraced children born out of traditional marriage much more... when my grandmother and mother were young the children in those situations where treated like pariahs...which is horrible.

[bleedingheart]

12. If the money was to be directed towards education

and birth control and a host of programs to help people lift themselves out of poverty or even something like promoting self-esteem...I would be okay with it because out-of-wedlock births aren't a positive thing typically...

Hell I think they should help the gals out there with kids who need help as well... but then our puritan society just loves stoning the wrong-doers...

I was raised by a widowed mother...and without two parents (whether they are hetero..homo..etc) parenting is tough without some help!

[loyalsister]

16. Backlash

This is a backlash to the decline of patricarchy. Unwed mothers, women who divorce, marry late etc. maintain their ties primarily to the mother's side of the family. The maternal family has become more and more important to women. It is referred to as a matrilinial trend. I have noticed that it is very true. The mothers offer the emotional support, and grandmothers stand up to help out, too. Fathers seem to have little to offer a woman going through a divorce or a teen pregnancy. Women band together to handle situations and crisis related to the difficult lives that might be faced in a single parent household. Both of the fathers feel excluded from the whole reproductive process, and we have a misogynistic backlash.
The only way they can operate is to use what power they have. Funny thing is, the women will outsmart them.
I picked all this up from a Helen Fisher book- "The First Sex." She puts the biolgical and environmental influences on men and women into an Anthropological perspective. It's brilliant. The best thing she's got going is this. She mentions the Mighty Menopause. One positive side of menopause is that the kids are gone. She's free and probably has some economic resources. There's an open field.
Then there's the biological factor. As estrogen decreases the small amount of testosterone that women have has potential to have some influence on their behavior. Ouch! A little facial hair. Voice may deepen a little. AND many women become more assertive.
The guys better watch out. Fisher points out that there is no telling what will happen when a bunch of menopausal women who were willing to burn their bras hit a critical mass.
Maybe we ladies will save the day. Gotta hope for something.
:)

[Skittles]

18. ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS

I f***ing DESPISE that term. THERE ARE NO ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS. If the baby is HERE he/she is LEGITIMATE.

[7th_Sephiroth]

19. Damn straight man

i find that term derogatory and since this is the age of frivilous lawsuits, the the tidal wave of paperwork begin.

[SoCalDem]

21. Faith-based sterilization, anyone???

These scummy guys are after grant money like maggots after rotten meat.. I predict that "poor women" will be given "special vitamin" shots in clinics, for sterilization purposes..

You know that their children are valueless anyway, ans they only cost the state money, so why not go that one step further?? The powers that be , will determine that they are "doing her a favor anyway", and if THEY get some juicy money also, where is the harm??

Look for clinics to spring up offering "free healthcare". This will bring them in, and once there, they will find out that they "need a d&c" .. These women are not the type to research or complain.. They will just notice that they are not getting pregnant anymore.. Who knows? They might actually be happier....but THEY will not be the ones getting the money..

:tinfoilhat:ish, but I cannot help thinking that this will happen.. If there is money to be made, they will find a way to get it :(