| MAP
Advocate |
Vol.10 No. 9
March 8, 2004
Take Action: Contact Your Local Community Newspaper With Your Support of Minor's Consent
Community papers love to get letters to the editor and will usually print them. Take a couple of minutes to write a brief letter to your paper stating your support of Minnesota's current law allowing young people to access confidential health care for reproductive health, chemical dependency or mental health. The letter doesn't need to be long or complicated. Just let your neighbors know what you know - minor's consent is a gateway to get teens the health care they need quickly at a time when they may be too scared and nervous to tell their parents, that provider's build trust with young people and work with them on building better communication with their parents and that without minor's consent, we know that many young people will go without needed health care.
Why your community paper? Not only do you get an opportunity to inform others in your community, but lawmakers read them to find out what their constituents are thinking. For more information on this issue, read the Minor's Consent MAP Facts and check out tips on writing a letter to the editor.
Two Senate Committees Advance Comprehensive Sex Ed Legislation
Comprehensive Sex Ed received a boost this week as two bills addressing
the need to provide complete information to young people moved forward
in the Minnesota Senate. The Comprehensive Family Life and Sex Education
bill (SF2443) authored by Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul) and supported
by MAP and the Sexuality Education for Life - MN coalition was passed
out of the Education Policy committee. The committee heard testimony about
the effectiveness of comprehensive sex ed in prevention HIV and other
STD's as well as unintended pregnancy. The bill is on its way to the Finance
Committee. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed Sen.
John Marty's (DFL-Roseville) Unintended Pregnancy and Abortion Prevention
bill (SF1665). This comprehensive approach ensures that young people receive
comprehensive sex ed and puts back in place the HIV Regional Training
Sites that were eliminated in last year's no-new-taxes budget. For more
updates on the status of these bills and what you can do to help, check
the MAP
Bill Tracker.
House and Senate Take Opposite Positions on Minor's Consent
House and Senate bills removing the confidentiality protections of Minnesota's Minor's Consent law received different fates in their respective committees. Last week, the House Health and Human Services Committee passed HF352 authored by Rep. Tim Wilkin (R-Eagan) that would not allow a minor to consent for confidential care around sexual health, chemical dependency or mental health. On Tuesday, the Senate Health and Human Services Policy committee heard the Senate version, SF 570 authored by Sen. Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge) and voted it down. Both committees heard testimony from health providers and young people about the impact this legislation would have discouraging young people to receive care in a timely manner. Although the Senate committee rejected the bill, expect a floor amendment to be introduced later in session. For more information on what you can do, check the MAP Bill Tracker.
African-born Prevention Initiative Introduced This Week
A one-time $300,000 funding request to address the emerging HIV epidemic among African-born Minnesotans was introduced this week. The funding would be used during 2004 and 2005 to support a major public awareness campaign targeting Minnesota's African communities. A consortium of community-based organizations would come together to implement a campaign intended to promote general knowledge and awareness about HIV and dispel misperceptions, encourage HIV testing, and link people living with HIV to HIV health care and prevention services. The bills are authored by Rep. Karen Clark (R-Minneapolis) and Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis). Check the MAP Bill Tracker for bills numbers -- which should be available by March 12, and for more information on what you can do.
Governor's Supplemental Budget Reflects Last Year's Health Care Cuts
Gov. Pawlenty introduced his supplemental budget for 2005. The budget includes $2.1 million for HIV drug and insurance reimbursement. Half of the appropriation to the state ADAP budget fund essentially repays the rebate dollars that were "borrowed" in 2002. The other half covers a shortfall projected through June 2005 due, in part, to cuts made last year in various state health programs, increased drug costs, and the fact that persons with HIV are living longer, thus needing benefits for a longer period of time. There are a lot of thoughts about how to keep HIV health care access in Minnesota from falling apart. Some say the answer is in getting the federal government to increase funding for ADAP. Others suggest there is a need for a new, long-term, strategic plan for HIV health care funding. And still others, and MAP is one of them, say tinkering with may not ADAP be enough and that HIV advocates should consider being partners in a renewed push for affordable, universal health care. Check the MAP Bill Tracker for more updates as they become available.
AIDS Action Day went on the road for the first-time ever to Duluth, MN. Thirty advocates from northeastern Minnesota met with Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth), Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth), Senator Yvonne Prettner-Solon (DFL-Duluth) and Duluth Mayor Bergson about the need for comprehensive sexual health education, confidential health care for young people and an approach to HIV prevention and care that reflects all communities in Minnesota.
It sounds like good news. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson announced the annual grants from the Ryan White CARE Act going to major urban areas to provide HIV health and social services. Hennepin County will get a little over $3 million to provide services throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Good news because the money is very much needed. Bad news, through, because it represents almost a 5 percent reduction from last year. This, coming at at time when HIV cases are up in Minnesota and state-assisted health coverage is down due to budget cuts implemented by the Governor and the legislature last year. The local planning group responsible for making recommendations about how to spend the money, the HIV Services Planning Council is scheduled to take action this summer. It's not a good picture. As the state budget cuts and pressures of the mounting federal deficit start to hit home, people living with HIV are very likely to see the social services they depend upon starting to be chipped away through the coming year.
MAP Advocate is published by the Minnesota AIDS Project every two weeks while the Minnesota Legislature is in session, and monthly during the rest of the year. It is available through the MAP web site mnaidsproject.org and through email list service. If you wish to order the MAP Advocate, visit our Join the Action Network page, or contact MAP Public Policy by phone or email.
MAP Public Policy
Minnesota AIDS Project
1400 Park Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-341-2060
800-373-2437
public.policy@mnaidsproject.org
Mission & Values | Executive Director | Board of Directors | Annual Report | Publications | Calendar of Events | Employment | Contact Us
Last Updated:
Friday, March 30, 2007
[an error occurred while processing this directive]