    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 8, 2000]
    [Pages 15-16]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    January 8, 2000

        Good morning. January is the time of year when many of us make New
    Year's resolutions and work hard to keep them. Today I want to talk
    about steps we're taking to keep a resolution of mine: making sure women
    and men get the health care they need to have strong children and
    healthy families.
        First, our administration has worked hard to make sure all women
    have access to prenatal care. We know when women get medical attention
    before a baby is born, that child is much more likely to be born
    healthy. And good health is the most precious gift we can offer a child
    or a family.

    [[Page 16]]

        Second, we worked with Congress to make sure that every woman
    covered by Federal Government health insurance has reproductive health
    care coverage, including prescription contraceptives. That was a
    significant step for more than a million American women, and it set a
    standard for insurance coverage around the country.
        Third, when I took office, we faced an epidemic of teen pregnancy--
    children having children. Over the last 7 years, we've reached out to
    community groups, schools, and health professionals working in an
    amazing network of American citizens from all walks of life. And
    together, the American people have cut teen pregnancy by 15 percent.
        Fourth, we've made a broad range of family planning and sex
    education programs more widely available for all Americans. And by
    making sure women have family planning choices, we are helping to make
    abortion more rare.
        Today I'm glad to announce we will be increasing funds for family
    planning and reproductive health care by $35 million next year. My
    budget for 2001 will include $274 million in grants for clinics and
    community-based health services that reach more than 5 million women and
    families.
        That money will help make contraceptives available and keep them
    affordable. It will fund counseling for teenagers and support
    educational programs that encourage young people to postpone sexual
    activity. It will help more than 4,600 clinics screen for cancer, AIDS,
    and other diseases. And it will fund partnerships with community
    organizations and health care professionals who are reaching out to
    teenagers and others at risk.
        These services make a critical difference in people's lives. They
    help working women who otherwise could not afford medical tests that may
    save their lives. They help AIDS patients who desperately need
    counseling and assistance. They provide support and information to young
    people who may not know the basics of caring for a newborn child. They
    give women access to the full range of reproductive health care before
    and during pregnancy. It's in the interest of every American that no one
    miss out on this kind of care and that no child miss the chance for a
    healthy start.
        America has also been a leader in providing health and family
    planning assistance for women and families in developing countries. We
    do this because it's right and because it will help build the kind of
    world we want for our own children.
        Around the world, 150 million women would like to choose the timing
    of their pregnancies, but have no access to family planning of any kind.
    In the developing world, the complications of pregnancy kill more than
    one woman every single minute, because so many lack the most basic
    health care. These are personal tragedies, and they have profound
    consequences for families and communities. Where children are born
    healthy and mothers and families gain power over their lives,
    communities are stronger; economic progress is faster; and the future is
    brighter for everyone.
        My budget for 2001 will increase funding for international family
    planning by almost $170 million. I am asking Congress to support these
    funds, and to provide them without restrictions that hamper the work of
    family planning organizations and even bar them from discussing or
    debating reproductive health policies.
        We all agree that we want to save lives, help women and children
    stay healthy, and empower families to take responsibility for their own
    choices. Supporting reproductive health and family planning is one of
    the very best ways to do that. We know it works. At home and abroad, we
    don't have a woman's life or a child's healthy start to waste.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 6:03 p.m. on January 7 in the Oval
    Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January 8. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    January 7 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.