AMA revises sex-ed policy

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The nation's top medical group this week updated its sex-education policy to oppose federal funding of any unproven programs, but abstinence educators still believe it targets only them.

"The whole thing has to do with evidence. It's really a scientific issue," said Dr. J. Edward Hill, president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA).

Abstinence educators say there is evidence the teaching approach works.

"The new AMA policy states that the AMA will only support programs that have proven effective," said Libby Gray, director of Project Reality, an abstinence education organization in Glenview, Ill.

"If this is the case, they should review the studies that are readily available that show that abstinence education reduces teen sexual activity and stop supporting comprehensive sex-education programs that have not been shown to be effective," she said.

The AMA policy change comes on the heels of a study widely reported from Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, that said 11 out of 13 federally funded abstinence education programs contained medical or scientific errors or distortions.

The National Abstinence Clearinghouse and other abstinence supporters protested Mr. Waxman's findings, saying they were politically motivated.

However, supporters of comprehensive sex education said the Waxman study was just the latest to conclude that abstinence education rarely or never works.

The Bush administration is a staunch supporter of abstinence education, and the Republican-led Congress earmarked $170 million, including $30 million in new funds, for abstinence education in its 2005 spending bill.

Previous AMA policy opposed abstinence-only education, saying it could not support it "unless research showed that it was superior in preventing negative outcomes," Dr. Hill said yesterday .