Rep. Lee & Sen. Lautenberg Introduce Legislation to Halt Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only EducationMarch 15, 2011
Media Contacts: Joel Payne, Lee, (202) 225-2661, Lautenberg Press Office (202) 224-3224
Resources Would Be Redirected to Comprehensive Sex EducationWashington, D.C.– Today, Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA-9) and Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced legislation to cut off federal funding for ineffective, abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs. Despite spending more than $1.5 billion in federal funds for abstinence-only education over the last 15 years, the United States maintains one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world and one-third of all new HIV infections in the United States occur among those under the age of 29. A Congressionally-mandated study found that abstinence-only programs fail to effectively teach teens how to prevent unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. The Lee-Lautenberg bill, introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, would reallocate the abstinence-only funding to comprehensive sex education programs.
“We need to get serious about educating our young people about sex. Abstinence-only programs fail to address the challenge of unplanned pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections among our youth, which have reached a critical level,” said Rep. Barbara Lee. “The bill that I am introducing today with Senator Lautenberg and others ensures that, in a time of tight budgets, we fund comprehensive sex education programs that have been proven to work, instead of throwing money away on programs that don't.”
“Abstinence-only education doesn’t work and is a poor use of federal funding. Our nation’s young adults deserve access to information that helps them take on real life situations and make smart decisions,” Lautenberg said. “This legislation would make smart investments in programs that prevent teen pregnancy and stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.”
The “Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act” would strike Title V, Section 510 from the Social Security Act. That provision has been the funding mechanism for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for nearly 15 years. The bill would reprogram $50 million annually to evidence-based, comprehensive sex education programs funded through the Personal Responsibility Education (PREP) program. PREP funds comprehensive sex education programs that provide both abstinence and contraception information to teens and educates them about preventing sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, and unintended pregnancy, as well as life skills that help youth make healthy decisions. .............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://lee.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=57§iontree=35,57&itemid=2311
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