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March 20, 2008
Leave unproven abstinence-only programs out of Appropriations Bill!
Today, Rep. Jim Moran (VA-08) led a contingent of 76 key lawmakers in sending House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey a letter requesting that funding for unproven so-called "abstinence-only" programs be left out of this year’s Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill. This comes on the heals of an April 2007 study conducted by the independent research firm Mathematica, which concluded that students in “abstinence-only” programs were no more likely to abstain from sex, delay initiation of sex, or have fewer sexual partners than students who did not participate .
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America , was quoted as saying:
As a former teacher and state superintendent of education, I commend Rep. Moran and his colleagues for standing up for our teens' health. Americans, especially parents, are anxious about the rise in the teen birth rate and reports that one in four teen girls have a sexually transmitted infection. The Bush-backed 'abstinence-only' policies that led to these problems are failing. The public wants Congress to follow Rep. Moran's lead and make the changes necessary to ensure our teens get the factual information they need to make responsible decisions and protect themselves from disease.
William Smith, Vice President for Public Policy at the Sexual Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) stated:
Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have been an enormous waste of resources. Representative Moran and his colleagues are to be commended for tackling this issue and echoing the desires of their varied constituencies, including Virginia, a state that has rejected the abstinence-only-until-marriage approach.
Click here to read the whole release and the letter sent to Chairman Obey. You can find a recently updated fact sheet on “abstinence-only” programs here and the Mathematica study here .
Posted by Molly at March 20, 2008 5:21 PM