State governments which reduce out-of-wedlock births without increasing abortion are competing for $100 million in federal funding authorized by Congress in the 1996 welfare reform bill.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued guidelines governing how the success of each state in reaching that goal will be measured. Up to five states will share $100 million each year for five years. HHS determined that states must demonstrate only that their abortion rates have not increased, but left the reporting methods largely to the discretion of individual states.
