Women's Enews, October 23, 2006
Some
States Abstain From Abstinence-Only Funding
By Rebecca Vesely
An abstinence-only approach to sex ed
has been a staple of federal education
policy during the past six years. But
some states are starting to reject funding
so their schools can offer more comprehensive
programs instead.
(WOMENSENEWS)--Reproductive rights activists
say they are seeing new resistance by
states to sex education programs that
only teach abstinence until marriage,
a hallmark stance of the Bush Administration.
"It's taken a lot of years, but states
are saying 'no thanks,'" said Martha
Kempner, vice president of information
and communications at the Sexuality Information
and Education Council of the United States.
So far, 13 states have evaluated their abstinence-only
programs and all have found the programs
to be ineffective, Kempner said. In a
report last July, the Sexuality Information
and Education Council also found that
other states are screening curricula for
school children more closely. Three states
that had formerly accepted abstinence-only
funding have begun declining it.
"I think there is a pushback by the
states on accuracy," said Kempner.
The council opposes programs in which the
only advice offered about premarital sex
is to avoid it. Instead it favors comprehensive
sex education courses that include safe-sex
practices along with abstinence.
On a federal level, questions are being
raised about such programs as well.
On Oct. 18, the nonpartisan Government Accountability
Office warned the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services that it is violating
federal law by failing to require that
federally funded educational programs
include medically accurate information
about condom effectiveness.
The department had asserted that the statute
did not apply to materials used by federal
abstinence education grantees because
they were not designed to address specifics
of sexual health. But the GAO found otherwise.
A workbook widely used by abstinence education
grantees included lessons on how HIV affects
the body's immune system. Excluding information
on condom use in a workbook with similar
scientific themes violates the statute,
the GAO concluded.
$1 Billion for Abstinence Programs
Since 1998, more than $1 billion in federal
funds have been allocated to abstinence-only
programs, including nearly $800 million
between 2001 and 2006, during the presidency
of George W. Bush.
This year, Bush called for doubling abstinence
education funding and developing an abstinence-only
educational model to "ensure that
the federal government is sending a consistent
health message to teens."
Those funds have not yet been authorized
by Congress and some states have begun
to think twice about accepting them.
After the changes to federal welfare laws
in 1996, the U.S. government began offering
states $50 million in block grants to
fund programs that teach abstinence only
under Title V, enacted in 1935 to improve
women's and children's health nationwide.
States match the program with $3 for every
$4 the federal government provides. Only
one state, California, has never accepted
Title V monies. The Abstinence Education
Program was amended to Title V in 1997.
But recent reports questioning the accuracy
and efficacy of abstinence-only programs
have spurred several states to reject
or reduce funding under Title V.
In September 2005 Maine became the third
state after California and Pennsylvania
to reject Title V federal funding for
abstinence-only programs.
New Mexico has also restricted Title V money
to programs that serve children in the
sixth grade and below, according to the
Sexuality Information and Education Council
report.
Although some states are passing up federal
dollars for abstinence-only programs,
other attempts to legislate the teaching
of contraception and safe sex have failed.
New York State's Healthy Teen Act, for instance,
failed in the state Legislature this summer.
It would have allowed districts to apply
for grants to fund sex ed classes that
provide "at-risk adolescents with
the information, assistance, skills and
support to enable them to make responsible
decisions," including abstinence
and contraceptive use. Abiding by these
regulations would have denied school districts
federal funds for sex education because
they would not have stuck with an abstinence-only
message.
Bush Says Abstinence Protects Teens
Since his days as governor of Texas, Bush
has asserted that teaching abstinence
to school children will help teens avoid
pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease
and improve their self esteem.
Groups such as the Sexuality Information
and Education Council and the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, both
based in New York, counter that children
have a right to accurate and comprehensive
information about sex and contraception.
They say the abstinence-only approach
makes teens who are already sexually active
vulnerable to unintended pregnancy, HIV-AIDS
and other diseases.
A June 2005 study by Dr. Scott Frank of
Case Western Reserve University School
of Medicine in Cleveland found that the
curricula used in Ohio's abstinence-only
programs--offered in 85 out of 88 counties--contain
false and misleading information about
abortion and contraception. It also found
the curricula reinforced gender stereotypes
and notions about sex that are not based
in science. One program told teens they
should "be prepared to die"
if they use condoms because they are likely
to fall off or break, according to Frank's
study.
The author recommended that the state revise
its sex education policies to include
information on sexually transmitted diseases
and experts review the content of abstinence-only
programs. Ohio received $7.7 million in
federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs in 2005, among the highest in
the nation.
A report released earlier this month by
the Sexuality Information and Education
Council and co-sponsored by the Washington-based
National Education Association also found
inaccuracies in abstinence-only curricula.
One program asserted that condoms have
a 14 percent failure rate; the actual
failure rate is 2 percent.
Supporters Defend Curricula
Libby Macke, director of Project Reality,
which develops and presents abstinence
materials to 120,000 students nationwide
and is based in Glenview, Ill., challenges
the objectivity of the Sexuality Information
report.
"Trusting an organization like the
Sexuality Information and Education Council
to give reliable and accurate information
about the state of abstinence programs
in America would be like relying on one
popular cola company to give accurate
data on why another cola tastes better,"
Macke said.
Advocates of abstinence-only education say
there is plenty of evidence that teaching
abstinence works.
A 2002 report by the Heritage Foundation,
a Washington think tank, cited 10 studies
to support that view. For instance, virginity
pledges--public vows to abstain from sex--helped
teens delay sexual activity for as long
as 18 months, a study of more than 14,000
students found. The study was conducted
by professors at Columbia and Yale universities
and was published in 2001 in the American
Journal of Sociology.
A 2005 follow-up study by the same researchers,
however, found that teens who take virginity
pledges are nearly as likely to contract
a sexually transmitted disease as teens
who don't take the pledge. The pledged
teens also were less likely to use condoms
and more likely to experiment with anal
and oral sex, the researchers found.
Since the mid-1990s, teen pregnancy rates
have dropped from 1.5 million pregnancies
a year to 800,000, spurring debate over
what is causing the decline.
Abstinence-only advocates attribute the
decline to federal and state support for
abstinence programs. Opponents say many
factors could explain the drop, including
teen awareness of condoms and HIV.
Rebecca Vesely writes frequently about
health issues from Oakland, Calif.
Women's eNews welcomes your comments.
E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.
For more information:
"States Boosting Funds for Abstinence-Only
Sex Ed":
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2252/
SIECUS:
http://www.siecus.org
Project Reality:
http://www.projectreality.org
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