Bill's loophole upsets abstinence program backers

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A core abstinence-education program has been renewed for two years in a House-passed bill, but abstinence proponents say it was rewritten in a way that "guts" the program.

Under a children's health bill passed Aug. 1, the House added a "state option" to the $50 million-a-year Title V Abstinence Education grant program that would allow states to use the funds for abstinence-only programs — or programs that "promote abstinence" but teach "additional methods" to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce health risks to sexually active teens and teens "at risk" for sexual activity.

Since its enactment in 1996, Title V funds have been "exclusively" for programs that meet an eight-point definition of abstinence education.

The new state option means abstinence funds could be used to teach teens about birth control, condom use and abortion, said David Christensen, director of congressional affairs at the Family Research Council.

States already teach sex education in schools with taxpayer money, he said.

"This bill was drafted explicitly to gut the current abstinence-education program as we know it and, frankly, undermine the options states have to provide genuine abstinence education."

House passage of H.R. 3162 was a vote to "give abstinence-education funding to sex-advocacy groups," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.

If this bill is enacted, "abstinence opponents such as Planned Parenthood could receive federal funds to teach their version of abstinence," said Libby Macke, director of Project Reality, an abstinence-education organization.

But comprehensive sexual-education supporters say the change brings much-needed flexibility to states.

Several states, including California, refuse to take Title V money because it's too restrictive, said William Smith, vice president for public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). The revised Title V program will allow states to fund programs that discuss abstinence and include information on birth control, he said.

Mr. Smith also applauded new language requiring Title V-funded programs to be "medically and scientifically accurate."

A national evaluation of four abstinence programs found they had no impact on teen sexual behavior, SIECUS said, so the new language is needed to ensure that only effective, accurate programs are funded.

Abstinence proponents counter that federal reviewers already check abstinence grantees' programs for accuracy, and abstinence messages are effective. Teen birthrates fell sharply only after abstinence funding began to grow, Project Reality said in a new analysis.

However, others maintain that abstinence-only education is folly, and one critic even faulted House leaders for renewing Title V at all.

"We know these abstinence-only programs don't work. ... So why are we continuing to fund them?" asked Advocates for Youth President James Wagoner.