Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops loses human trafficking grant
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 11, 2011
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lost its bid to continue providing services to victims of human trafficking for what it claims “may be the Obama Administration’s support for abortion rights.” Apparently it didn’t occur to them that abortion is legal. Why should human trafficking victims be denied access to the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care that everyone else is? Simply to suit this federal contractor’s religious beliefs? Where would that end if each contractor could have that freedom? Unfortunately, many victims of human trafficking are raped and need access to a wide range of services – including abortions and birth control. An article at Bloomberg News has the story:
…The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was awarded a five- year contract that paid it $19 million to coordinate the services during the administration of President George W. Bush.
The contract was extended briefly in March, and the group said it was informed recently that its grant request to continue the work was turned down. Starting today, three other non-profit groups will provide case-management services for victims such as helping them obtain food, clothing and access to medical care…
Marrianne McMullen, spokeswoman for the U.S. Health and Human Services department’s Administration for Children and Families [said]
“HHS’s primary focus in serving victims of human trafficking is ensuring that they have access to the high quality and comprehensive case management services they need,” she said in an e-mail. “These are individuals who have endured traumatic experiences in many cases and who face uniquely complex challenges.”
HHS’s written instructions for groups seeking grants through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act said that the agency would give “strong preference” to applicants willing to offer referrals for the “full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care,”
including family planning services.The American Civil Liberties Union said in a 2009 lawsuit that the contract with the Catholic groups was unconstitutional because the bishops group won’t coordinate or refer people for medical services such as abortion that conflict with its religious teachings.
“We applaud the federal government for recognizing that trafficking victims need reproductive-health [services] and making awards based on those needs,” Brigitte Amiri, an attorney for the ACLU, said in an interview. “This has little to do with religion and everything to do with what the trafficking victims need.”
The three groups received grants worth a total of about $5 million for the first year, with a possibility of two additional years. The three are Tapestri of Atlanta, Heartland Human Care Services of Chicago and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants of Washington… Read more here
Gedlu Metaferia said
It may be a surprise to many, the total number of identified trafficking victims is extremely low relative to the amount of money the government has distributed since 2006. $19million is a lot of money for 5 years of the program. While some of us are barely surviving in helping many refugees, legal immigrants and victims of trafficking, such amount of money for one agency is outrageous. I do not have any problem with the agency, however, I am outraged by how our government distributes money. My total budget serving 900 clients is barely $30,000 with 2 employees and 5 volunteers!
Gedlu Metaferia said
Addition to the above posting:
I strongly dispute the the number of human trafficking and the number of torture victims served in several programs of Health and Human Services in many reports from 2000 to present. 2,700 is too high. It is very disheartening to collect funds in the name of the most vulnurable. I call on people of conscience to confront such waste of resource that would otherwise benefit so many.
Christopher Coen said
What do you think the real figure is, and how do you arrive at your figures?