Jodi Jacobson on February 18, 2009
www.rhrealitycheck.org
Republicans these days are very, very deeply concerned about “wasteful government spending.” House Minority Leader John Boehner complained about wasteful spending in the stimulus. Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana stated: “More big government spending…won’t cure what ails the American economy.” House Republican Whip Eric Kantor made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows talking “waste, waste, waste.” And now, according to the New York Times, the National Republican Congressional Committee is launching ads blasting House Democrats on the stimulus bill, which it ridicules as “chockfull of wasteful Washington spending.”
You know what? I agree. Let’s get rid of that wasteful Washington spending.
And I have a concrete suggestion that will save over $200 million in cold hard cash right away, plus billions of dollars in future healthcare and related economic costs!
Sound too good to be true?
Really, it’s not a gimmick. It’s very simple: We just need to zero out funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in the next budget cycle.
These programs don’t work to reduce sexual activity in teens, they don’t work to reduce sexually transmitted infections and they don’t work to reduce unintended pregnancies.
What is worse, they waste money both on the front end and the back end: The failure of these programs to effectively contribute to preventing unintended pregnancies and infections from the outset actually costs more money in the long run. In 2004, for example, teen childbearing in the United States cost taxpayers at least $9.1 billion, never mind the costs of sexually transmitted infections. So by investing in abstinence-only programs, taxpayers actually are losing billions at a rapid clip.
So it’s easy. Eliminate the funding; we all save money now and money later.
Given the general concern about wasteful spending, the desire to ensure the prudent investments of taxpayer funds in ways that yield positive benefits, concerns about rising health care costs, and the now-overwhelming evidence that abstinence-only programs don’t work, one might assume it will be easy to reach bipartisan agreement that abstinence-only programs, like the bridges to nowhere of the past, should just be cut. No bickering, no posturing…pure and simple. Should be easy.
We will soon find out.
Given they control the White House and Congress, the ball actually is in the Democrats’ court for now. Several observers have suggested it may be too late to remove funding for abstinence-only from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 appropriations bill, which has yet to be passed and which will likely be rolled into a giant omnibus bill to be dealt with by Congress. (Although given their concerns, perhaps the Republicans will offer an amendment to take it out?)
But President Obama is expected to release his first federal budget request, for FY 2010, at the end of February, and the pressure is on to eliminate ab-only funding in this next fiscal cycle. A number of leading advocacy groups, including Advocates for Youth and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS) have launched campaigns urging President Obama to do just that. Both point to promises made by Obama during the campaign and in his inaugural speech to put an end to these programs, and to ensure evidence drives public policy. (To take action see Advocates for Youth here, and SIECUS here).
Candidate Obama, for example, “firmly oppose(d) federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.” He also declared support for “comprehensive sex education that is age-appropriate,” and asserted that providing “science-based sex education in schools
the right thing to do.” As a Senator, he was a co-sponsor of the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act, which would provide funding for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education, and the Prevention First Act which supports efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy and increase access to contraceptive services and information. Moreover, during the transition, a Congressional liaison from the President-Elect’s transition team reportedly communicated directly to congressional leaders Obama’s firm opposition to continued funding for abstinence-only programs, expressing again his full support for comprehensive approaches.
Still, many advocates want Obama to make this crystal clear when he releases his budget and not, according to fears expressed by some, just give “broad guidance to Congress” as he did with the stimulus package. They want the White House to make its priorities known. James Wagoner, President of Advocates for Youth, notes that:
“What President Obama does on abstinence-only-until-marriage funding in his first budget will be the flagship signal for young people regarding the President’s credibility on reproductive and sexual health issues. Obama was explicitly supportive of comprehensive sex education and science-based approaches to public policy during his campaign. This budget must zero out abstinence-only funding. It simply has to go.”
Continued>>>
http://rogerhollander.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/the-obama-mandate-end-abstinence-only-until-marriage-programs/
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