Shaheen moving to get fed money directly to sex ed providers

Nov. 26—CONCORD — U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is working to deliver federal money directly to two providers that offer sex education services to at-risk students after the Executive Council repeatedly rejected these grants, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The Republican-led council voted 3-2 Tuesday against $682,000 in federal grants for Amoskeag Health in Manchester and TLC Family Resource Center in Claremont.

Youths up to age 19 at a higher risk of pregnancy and at risk of sexually-transmitted diseases are the target population for this instruction, including those in foster care, girls who have been pregnant before or victims of sexual trafficking, state officials said.

"It's outrageous these programs are on the brink of shuttering because of the Republican-controlled Executive Council's extreme ideology and poor understanding of reproductive health," said Shaheen spokesperson Sam Paisley in response to the council's action.

"These programs help adolescents stay healthy by providing essential sex education, and they shouldn't be politicized."

Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, made a similar move last January in securing a $500,000 grant that went directly to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

Shaheen got the grant after the Executive Council had blocked family planning grant money going to Planned Parenthood and two other providers that operate abortion clinics.

The GOP-led Legislature attached language to the state budget in June 2021 that blocks the state from approving any family planning money to a provider that also has an abortion clinic.

Family planning money may not support abortions either under federal or state law.

Sununu lobbied for grants

Gov. Chris Sununu has long been a supporter of these sex education grants, first voting for them while serving on the Executive Council before he became governor in 2017.

He lobbied the GOP councilors to change their minds, pointing out that in the past each of them had voted for these grants.

Sununu's Democratic critics maintained Sununu did not apply enough pressure to get at least one GOP councilor to flip his vote.

For the past decade, the state embraced this Personal Responsibility Education Program, which addresses many issues, including abstinence from sex, sexually transmitted diseases, gender identity, relationships and decision-making skills.

This instruction does not take place during school hours but rather is offered after school to these at-risk students.

This "evidence-based" program helped lower teen pregnancy rates in Manchester and Claremont, but both still have about three times the average rate, according to state officials.

Parental consent is required for youths to take part, and youths must bring information back to parents.

Councilor David Wheeler said he had been unaware until reviewing this latest request that Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts had designed the curriculum, known as Get Real.

He maintained the curriculum instructs students to keep confidential any information they receive in the program.

State health officials have declined to release the curriculum, citing proprietary reasons, but they let the councilors review it privately.

Wheeler also said the program encourages abstinence from sexual intercourse, but it does not address other sexual contact between minors that does not lead to pregnancy.

Councilor Joe Kenney said he thought this program was different than what he had voted for in the past.

Wheeler and Kenney have said the Department of Education should review the curriculum.

No councilor has made a formal request to that agency on the matter according to state officials.

Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, has pushed the council several times to vote for the contract.

Councilor Janet Stevens, R-Rye, voted again for the grants Tuesday.

Warmington said these programs work and it was irresponsible for the council to turn them aside.

Liz Canada, advocacy manager for the Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, said the councilors deliberately waited until after the election to cast a final vote killing the grants.

Voters on Nov. 8 reelected all four Republicans and one Democratic member to the council.

"The Executive Council's vote to defund evidence-based, age-appropriate, after-school sex education programs in Claremont and Manchester is a dereliction of duty that endangers the health and well-being of Granite State teens and jeopardizes public health outcomes in our state," Canada said in a statement.

Cornerstone Action, a socially conservative group, praised GOP councilors who blocked this grant.

"We object to our tax dollars being used to promote pornography addiction and promulgate gender ideology," Executive Director Shannon McGinley said when the council set these grants aside in October.

klandrigan@unionleader.com