Senate Passes Compromise Bill Increasing Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only Sex Education

[niyad]

Senate Passes Compromise Bill Increasing Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only Sex Education


The Senate overwhelmingly approved of HR 2 on Tuesday, a $200 billion package that included an enormous increase of federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) curricula.




The US Senate voted 92-8 to pass HR 2, which has been known as the “doc fix” for Medicaid reimbursement rates, as well as many other health care provisions. HR 2 includes an alarmingly high increase in funding for the AOUM program, bringing its annual funding to $75 million. President Obama has already agreed to sign the bill, saying in a statement that he “would be proud to sign it into law.”

This compromise bill, however, also includes a two-year extension of Title V abstinence-only education, allocating significant federal funding to Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs). Many CPCs lie to women about abortion and birth control and target women who are facing unplanned pregnancies and provide them with medical misinformation. AOUM curriculums rely heavily on shame and stigma, and have been proven to be unsuccessful at preventing unplanned pregnancy and the spread of STIs.

The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) wrote of the expansion of AOUM, stating that SIECUS is “incredibly disappointed by this wasteful increase and expansion of AOUM programs that are ineffective, stigmatizing, and fail to provide young people with the sexual health information, education, and skills they need throughout their life to make healthy and responsible decisions.”

One of the policy rider provisions in HR 2 now also demands that unobligated Title V AOUM funds be made available to states implementing programs that adhere abstinence-only education, as opposed to returning these funds to the general treasury, as was the case before this provision.

. . . .

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/04/17/senate-passes-compromise-bill-that-increases-federal-funding-for-abstinence-only-education/

[AuntPatsy]

1. Once again ...slide these laws in

[niyad]

2. yes, keep our attention focused on something else, and. . .

[guillaumeb]

3. Finally the Senate accomplished something!!

Assuming, that is, that they wish to drive up the number of unplanned pregnancies among young women while also cutting access to family planning services.

Abstinence does not work:
"Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle found that teenagers who received some type of comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant. And in 2007, a federal report showed that abstinence-only programs had “no impacts on rates of sexual abstinence.”
from: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/04/10/461402/teen-pregnancy-sex-education/

And also:
"No highly effective sex education or HIV prevention education program is eligible for federal funding because mandates prohibit educating youth about the benefits of condoms and contraception."
from the same link:
"No highly effective sex education or HIV prevention education program is eligible for federal funding because mandates prohibit educating youth about the benefits of condoms and contraception."
and:
"Evaluations of the effectiveness of state-funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs found no delay in first sex. In fact, of six evaluations that assessed short-term changes in behavior, three found no changes, two found increased sexual activity from pre- to post-test, and one showed mixed results. Five evaluations looked for but found no long-term impact in reducing teens’ sexual activity."
from:
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/component/content/article/450-effective-sex-education

When abstinence only fails, the only thing to do is throw more money at it. Classic definition of insanity.

[niyad]

4. sad, isn't it?

[guillaumeb]

5. sad is too nice.

The Senate perpetuates a "solution", abstinence, that has never worked. If it did the very religious South would have no teen pregnancies. Unless it is all those southern atheists having welfare babies.

[Novara]

6. Oh for fuck's sake

I see the Christian Taliban is at it again.

[niyad]

7. and it appears they have no intention of stopping.