The state takes a pass, on federal funding for pregnancy prevention. Department of Health and Family Services spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis says new federal requirements mean states must use the money only for programs that teach abstinence. Lon Newman with the Wisconsin Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association says that would not really allow education on sexually transmitted diseases. Marquis says the $600,000 would have gone to Milwaukee County, the Center for Self Sufficiency and the Menomonee Tribe. She says the state will continue to promote abstinence as one way to avoid pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases.
