Didn't we just finish an election cycle where voters made it clear they were tired of the Bush White House catering to the far right at every turn? I know that. You know that. Anti-choice lawmakers who lost their jobs to pro-choice newcomers on November 7 know that. But judging by President Bush's budget proposal, released yesterday, apparently he missed the memo from the American public.

For the sixth year in a row, President Bush chose to use his federal budget proposal as yet another opportunity to satisfy his own right-wing base rather than—oh, I don't know—tackle real problems in America like unintended pregnancy.

In his budget for next year, Bush proposes cutting, zeroing-out, or flatlining every family-planning program there is—domestic and international. He cuts wide swaths through other public-health programs, too—claiming they're unnecessary, duplicative, not proven to work, etc., etc. But then he adds insult to injury by proposing a massive increase in the "abstinence-only" program. Huh?

Family-planning programs provide couples with birth control, among other critical health services. Birth control prevents pregnancy. If you're against abortion, which President Bush informs us he is repeatedly, don't you want to prevent it? Apparently not, according to the Bush budget.

And abstinence-only programs could make the problem of unintended pregnancy even worse. These risky, unproven programs censor information about contraception—and in some cases are so medically inaccurate as to be absurd, if it weren't so serious. You can get HIV from sweat and tears? Condoms don't work? That's what your tax dollars are teaching young people. Some evidence even shows that abstinence-only programs could result in riskier behavior by teenagers. Yet President Bush wants to spend more and more of your hard-earned money on programs like this.

The one-two punch in this budget—fewer family-planning services but more abstinence-only programs—shows yet again, sadly, how out of step the White House is with real health needs in America. Here are more details about Bush's budget:

• He level-fundsthe nation's one and only program devoted to family planning,called "Title X" (ten). Had funding for this program only kept up with inflation in recent years, it would now be funded at more than double its current level.
• He proposes spending $28 million more on unproven abstinence-only programsnext year.Oh—did we mentionthere is still no federal program for honest, realistic sex education?
• Several public-health programs, on which millions of Americans rely, were eliminated entirely or cut severely.
• The president tells Congress to cut overseas family-planning aid drastically, from $436 million to $324 million.
• And if all that's not enough,the president's budget proposes some funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)—but if the last five years are any indication, he'll cancel that funding this summer. He has for the last five years running.

As you read these facts and figures, you might ask, "What can I do about it?" Remember those elections I mentioned earlier? Well, thankfully the Capitol is no longer run by Bush's allies—and it's Congress who makes final budget decisions, not the White House. So, let's tell members of Congress that we expect them to correct the president's budget mistakes by increasing funding for family planning and giving no more of our tax dollars to unproven, risky abstinence-only programs.

And here's a sign of hope, by the way. Bush's budget coincides with the House introduction of the Prevention First Act (S.21/H.R.819). The bill, authored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), is a package of services to help women and couples prevent unintended pregnancy—which would reduce the need for abortion. It increases funds for family-planning services, assures contraceptive equity in health-insurance plans, improves women's access to emergency contraception, and sets up the nation's first honest, realistic sex-education program, among other things.

So while you're talking to your members of Congress about the budget, take a minute to ask them to sign on as a cosponsor of the Prevention First Act. Together, the two moves will put Congress on the right track to prevent unintended pregnancy—and put the White House on warning.