Heidi Stirrup

…Despite Her Anti-Birth Control Stance, Stirrup Disparaged Single Mothers And Argued Against Providing Them With Financial Assistance

Heidi Stirrup: “Rapid Expansion Of Welfare…Subsidizes Unwed Motherhood Making Husbands Quite Dispensable”

Stirrup Stated That Welfare Expansion To A “Young Girl” Is “More Attractive Than Entry Level Jobs” And “Subsidizes Unwed Motherhood.” “While some may question whether welfare causes illegitimacy, it is certainly true that welfare cash and assistance provides a perverse economic support system for it. A young girl on welfare can get a cash grant, food stamps, medical care, day care, a transportation allowance, and in many cases a rent allowance. This rapid expansion of welfare benefits make welfare more attractive than entry-level jobs and subsidizes unwed motherhood making husbands quite dispensable. In fact, for many fathers, welfare provides an automatic escape hatch. They do not have to take responsibility for their children -- the government will.” [Heidi Stirrup Prepared Testimony, Federal News Service, 2/29/96]

Heidi Stirrup Claimed That Government Welfare Assistance Allows Young Women To “Continue Having Children Outside Of Marriage”

Heidi Stirrup Argued Against Providing Financial Assistance To Single Mothers Because “Financial Support Is What Allows This Behavior To Continue.” “Defenders of the welfare state argue that young women do not have babies just to get their government check. There are perhaps a variety of reasons, but nonetheless, the financial support is what allows this behavior to continue. Taking away the cash incentive could be the single most immediate step to break the cycle of illegitimacy and dependency. Remember, these federal welfare dollars are taxpayer dollars and while Americans generally feel an obligation to support the unfortunate, there is little support for tax dollars being spent to sustain a child fathered by a young man who disappears and leaves mother and child to be wards of the state.” [Heidi Stirrup Prepared Testimony, Federal News Service, 2/29/96]

Stirrup Made Offensive, Outlandish Remarks About LGBTQ Couples And Sexual Assault

Stirrup Said That The “Basic Family Unit” Was Under Attack Because Of “Homosexuality”

Stirrup Has Said That The “Basic Family Unit” Was Under Attack Because Of Same-Sex Relationships. “The basic family unit has been under attack from illegitimacy, promiscuity, adultery, divorce and homosexuality. It is the increasing rate of our of wedlock births, however, that is particularly shocking and troubling and which demands attention. Our federal public policy should encourage marriage, help families stay together and discourage out of wedlock births.” [Heidi Stirrup Prepared Testimony, Federal News Service, 2/29/96]         

Stirrup Wanted To Talk About Rape In A “More Uplifting Way”

Stirrup Criticized An Anti-Rape Commercial Claiming She Wanted Rape To Be Talked About In A “More Uplifting Way” And Suggested The Commercial Could Be Construed As “Demonizing Marriage.” “Well, let's--let me first suggest that the message here, of course, is that men never have a license to rape, never have a right to rape. And what we want to do is make sure that we do not confuse the message with the visuals. And I'm afraid that some of these visuals, particularly the one with the wedding scene, may, in fact, send mixed messages. The idea, again, that men who were on the altar sharing their vows with their wife does not give them license to rape their wives. But the image, I'm afraid, is one that's demonizing marriage, and that's the wrong message that we need to send…I guess what I'd like to see is a more uplifting way. No means no. And, men, no matter what, if they share their vows with their wives, do not have license to rape. And that is a correct message. I'm afraid, however, that the visual may conflict with that message.” [NBC News Transcripts, 10/10/97]

Stirrup Interviewed Diane Foley For The OPA Deputy Assistant Secretary Position In February 2018.

[Equity Forward Public Records Production, received 9/5/18, page 547]

On January 26, 2018, Heidi Stirrup Reached Out To Diane Foley To Follow Up On A Conversation They Had Had Regarding Foley’s Hiring As Deputy Assistant Secretary For Population Affairs. “Thank you for taking time to speak with me by phone yesterday about the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs. As we discussed, attached please find a position description. After reviewing it, please let me know if this is something you are interested in pursuing.”

[Equity Forward Public Records Production, received 9/5/18, page 553]

Foley — Who Was Hired With Stirrup’s Help To OPA — Has Extreme, Out Of Touch Views On Sex and Sex Education, Favoring Abstinence-Only Before Marriage…

May 29, 2018: HHS Announced Diane Foley As The New Deputy Assistant Secretary For Population Affairs. [HHS Public Affairs, Twitter, 5/29/18]

Foley Said She Believed it Could Be Considered “Sexually Harassing” to Demonstrate Condom Use to a Class With a Banana. “Speaking in her office, above one of the Life Network pregnancy centers where pregnant women are given ultrasounds and discouraged from getting abortions, Foley argues it's difficult even to teach condom use, requiring 13 separate steps. ‘By the time you get to step six, you forget why you are even using the condom,’ she jokes. (Planned Parenthood, incidentally, has a 10-step video on its Web site, which includes steps such as "Don't tear the condom while unwrapping it.") Foley says she believes it could be considered "sexually harassing" to demonstrate condom use to a class with, say, a banana. [Colorado Springs Independent, 4/8/10]

Foley Compared Sex to “Super Gluing Your Fingers Together.” Foley: “So to help them understand that when God said that ‘the two shall become one flesh’ his idea was the limbic system was to protect that emotional relationship for husband and wife for life. The sexual relationship is the closest you can get physically, have you ever superglued your fingers together? It’s not a good time, I have, it’s really hard to come apart but that’s basically what happens.” [Diane Foley, WVC Student Ministries, 4/29/12, 54:00]

…Under Foley’s Leadership, The Trump Administration Has Decimated The Title X Family Planning Program Through A Domestic Gag Rule And Other Policy Changes

During Congressional Testimony, Foley Was “Unable To Cite Any Examples Of Misused Funds To Back Up The Trump Administration’s Justification For Overhauling The Federal Family Planning Program.” “A senior HHS official today was unable to cite any examples of misused funds to back up the Trump administration’s justification for overhauling the federal family planning program, drawing sharp rebukes from Democrats on a House oversight panel.  Deputy Assistant Secretary Diane Foley was the first administration official to testify on changes issued in February that would strip Title X program funding from health providers that offer abortions or abortion referrals and that critics contend will harm the millions of low-income women the program serves. Multiple courts have temporarily blocked the policy change from taking effect while blue states and abortion rights groups including Planned Parenthood press legal challenges.” [Politico, 6/19/19]