Repeal Abstinence Only Failure
Under George W. Bush, federal government support for abstinence-only sex education programs was begun. These programs taught adolescent Americans in public schools that the only right thing for them to do about sex was not to have it at all, in any way, until they became married. These programs contained no information about birth control methods, or about using condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
After the implementation of these programs, the national rate of teenage pregnancy rose for the first time in a decade. There is no evidence to suggest that abstinence-only sex education programs are effective in preventing pregnancy, in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, or even in preventing teenage sexual activity.
This week, Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced S. 578, the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act. As its name implies, the legislation would repeal federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs. The findings section of the bill notes:
“Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have been discredited by a wide body of evidence, including most recently in a congressionally mandated study in 2007 which found these programs ineffective in stopping or delaying teen sex, reducing the number of reported sexual partners, reducing reported rates of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections, or otherwise beneficially impacting young people’s sexual behavior. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences recommends the termination of such programs because they represent `poor fiscal and public health policy.’”
What does it mean for abstinence-only sex education programs to be poor fiscal policy? The federal government has spent approximately one and a half billion dollars funding abstinence-only sex education programs without seeing any positive results. At a time when programs that have been proven effective, such as Head Start and the WIC nutritional program, are being cut, the failed abstinence-only experiment should not be spared.
The following senators have co-sponsored S. 578:
Mark Begich (Democrat-AK)
Al Franken (Democrat-MN)
John Kerry (Democrat-MA)
Patty Murray (Democrat-WA)
Bernard Sanders (Independent-VT)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat-RI)
Ron Wyden (Democrat-OR)
