Abstract

PIP: A Congressional conference on the fiscal year 1992 appropriations bill for the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was held in October 1991 in Washington, D.C.. Despite what many expected, funding levels were at the center of negotiations for 3 weeks instead of the gag rule which prevented federally funded clinic staff from discussing abortion as an option for clients with an unwanted pregnancy. In fact, the White House was ready to agree to a compromise allowing staff to mention abortion and provide names and addresses of abortion clinics to clients, but White House Chief of Staff Sununu stopped any compromise asserting that antiabortion leaders in the House of Representatives (House) would not agree to a compromise. The President specifically objected to proposed funding levels and would probably have vetoed any bill. So the House omitted 2 abortion related provisions to prevent the President from using the gag rule as an excuse to veto the bill. These provisions included allowing federally funded abortions for poor women who were raped or experienced incest and requiring federally funded facilities to notify parents before a minor could undergo an abortion. The Senate approved a small increase in the Title X family planning program ($144-150 million). Yet the Senate did not allocate money for 2 surveys on human sexual behavior, but instead gave it to the Adolescent Family Life Program. It did appropriate $20 million to the Women's Health Study, however. Maternal and child health block grants received an additional $53 million for a total of $640 million which would go to home visiting and an increase in obstetrician and pediatrician participation in Medicaid. Sexually transmitted disease and HIV prevention programs also received increases.