August 15, 2007

Meeting with Rep. Clyburn's Area Director

In partnership with Advocates for Youth, a group of dynamic women who are all TellThem! members met with Dalton J. Tresvant, Midlands Area Director for federal House Representative James E. Clyburn. The meeting was scheduled to request that Rep. Clyburn 1) not support funding for abstinence-only programs and 2) support the abundant research that reveals that abstinence-only programs do not work and also provided information on funding for abstinence-only programs in our state. South Carolina received $3,341,101 in federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Fiscal Year 2006 despite the fact that we know that 81% of South Carolina voters think that sex education in public schools should contain information on both abstinence and contraception. A large portion of this funding went to Heritage Community Services out of Charleston.
As both a constituent and the Program Manager for the SC Emergency Contraceptive Initiative, Lottie McClorin voiced how both through her teen experience in Williamsburg County and her work in the field as a health educator with the Initiative, she has seen a huge need for a more comprehensive approach to education. As a teen, she saw that most teens were getting their reproductive health information from the streets and not from the schools where they needed it. As a professional, she has seen how even health professionals do not know about emergency contraception and are not fully informed through out our state.
An avid volunteer for the SC Democratic headquarters and a retired nursing professor at USC, Opal Brown shared with Mr. Tresvant how HIV/AIDS had directly impacted her own personal family and the importance of comprehensive sexuality education for the health of our young people who are being devastated by STIs/STDS.
Finally, Bonnie Adams, Executive Director of the New Morning Foundation, shared information about the Foundation’s work in Rep. Clyburn’s 6th District. She also shared crucial information on the numbers of teen births in the District and the economic cost of these births.
Mr. Tresvant explained that Rep. Clyburn’s vote for abstinence-only was probably due to the fact that the abstinence-only funding piece was part of a larger appropriations bill that included funding for other positive programs for the community. As we all know, what happens up on Capitol Hill is all about compromise. We were, however, assured that the bill would probably come back to conference and that our views would be taken into consideration at that point. It was great to know the difference one meeting was able to make and that Rep. Clyburn was supportive of a more comprehensive approach.
Summer seems to be a great time to meet with legislators. For tips on doing so, visit our advocacy toolkit on members’ home.