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Governor Jennifer M. Granholm unveiled the Blueprint for Preventing Unintended Pregnancies on July 6, 2005. Governor Granholm was joined by Surgeon General Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom and Barbara Flis in announcing the program. This new initiative includes the pilot program, "Talk Early, Talk Often", a program focused on giving parents resources with which to address abstinence and sexuality issues with middle school-age children. The initiative focuses on parents as the primary sex educators and suggests that parents armed with information and the communication tools they need may help prevent early and unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexually transmitted diseases by providing messages that help children abstain from sexual intercourse.Working with the Michigan Parent Teacher Student Association (MPTSA), who assisted in the creation of the program, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) will share the pilot with parents at school district-sponsored meetings in the fall. In order to curb Medicaid spending on pregnancy-related and medical care for newborns, and anestimated $11,528 for delivery and first year of life, the MDCH has submitted a request to obtain federal approval for a waiver which will make family planning services for low-income families more accessible. |
