Health bill restores $250 million in abstinence-education funds

[cynatnite]

A little-noticed provision of the health legislation has rescued federal support for a controversial form of sex education: teaching youths to remain virgins until marriage.

The bill restores $250 million over five years for states to sponsor programs aimed at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases by focusing exclusively on encouraging children and adolescents to avoid sex. The funding provides at least a partial reprieve for the approach, which faced losing all federal support under President Obama's first two budgets.

"We're very happy to see that funding will continue so the important sexual health message of risk avoidance will reach American teens," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, a Washington-based lobbying group. "What better place to see such an important health issue addressed than in the health legislation?"

But the funding was condemned by critics, who were stupefied by the eleventh-hour rescue.

"To spend a quarter-billion dollars on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that have already been proven to fail is reckless and irresponsible," said James Wagoner of the Washington group Advocates for Youth. "When on top of that you add the fact that this puts the health and lives of young people at risk, this becomes outrageous."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR2010032602457.html

on edit: I think this was one of the deals that was made to get some blue dogs on board.

[Metta]

1. Caving and pandering you can believe in. And, happy karma, Obama, et.al.

How's that working so far?

[Donnachaidh]

3. +1,000.000,000,000 n/t

[Hello_Kitty]

2. Why, why, why do Democrats have to pander to religious nuts like this?

Not just abstinence, but abstinence until marriage. I am 41 years old and never married. I'm supposed to be abstaining? Really?

[kestrel91316]

11. I'm 53 and never married. Yeah, we're supposed to stay virgins.

:rofl:

I fixed that problem in 1974.

[stray cat]

4. Are progressives against abstinance? I'm only against Abstinance only education

[donco6]

10. That's exactly what this is for - abstinence ONLY education.

We had a group make a pitch to us several years ago, and it was very clear - they had a curriculum and materials already prepared, and it was strictly abstinence ONLY. It was FREE because a grant was paying for it, but we had to deliver it exactly as it was prepared.

We said fergit it.

[Hello_Kitty]

12. I'm against telling young people to wait until MARRIAGE to have sex.

It's not just stupid and impractical, it's bigoted since most states don't allow gays to marry.

[Obamanaut]

5. If this is not a good thing to have in this bill, why do the cheerleaders

keep telling me it is a good bill?

One can imagine that if this part is considered bad, there must be other bad parts as well? I think a quarter-billion dollars is big bucks, but hey, that's just me.

[cynatnite]

6. Are you suggesting we throw out the baby with the bath water?

The law needs work...not gotten rid of, IMO.

[Obamanaut]

21. As the character in 'Road House' said, "Opinions vary." nt

[Fleshdancer]

7. That's a lot of money to make sure teens get pregnant n/t

[Donnachaidh]

8. I live in a red state, and my son had his *sex ed* class

And to hear him tell it -- WOW.

Did you know condoms were Quotes from the teacher - *known to break 100 per cent of the time.* He honestly said that.

And then he went on about abstinence. All the time with a *nudge nudge wink wink* attitude.

And then he went on to totally gross out my kid (I don't know how the others reacted), because every time he talked about the actual act of sex, he called it *poking*. And he went on and on for a week about *poking* his wife.

I felt bad for my kid. But we sat him down and immediately corrected the flat out lies he was being fed by the school system.

But throwing MORE money after this garbage? I'll bet that money could be spent on far more effective sex education classes.

[Fleshdancer]

9. Wow, that's ridiculous.

I'm in Texas so I just assume it will be up to me to teach my daughter everything about sex education...and Thomas Jefferson, but that's a whole different can of worms.

Anyone who refers to sex as "poking" has no business teaching sex ed.

[Donnachaidh]

14. that was my thought -- what a revolting guy

My son, being in his teens was very reticent to talk about sex to *us*, because well, we're US. But he was so put off by this man's attitude and the WRONG information he was giving them - he came home and just exploded.

Trying to raise a young man to not objectify women and not be *frightened* of opening up in a relationship and his sex education teacher talks about *poking his wife*.

Sheesh!

[kath]

13. What. The. F***.?!! "Caving and Pandering You Can Believe In",

from Matta, post #1.

Yep.

He just caves, and caves, and caves, etc.

Abstinence-only has been shonw not to work in scientific studies.
Anybody else remember those pretty words (he's SOOOOO full of pretty words) on Inauguration Day about"we will restore science to its rightful place"??

Yeah. Right.

(meanwhile, the NIH seems to be a clusterfuck right now.)

[JohnWxy]

15. I wonder how much this sort of indoctrination has had the affect of boosting practice of fellatio.

one unintended consequence the conservatives don't want to talk about.

[liberal_at_heart]

17. I have watched a few shows on this lately

Teens are having more oral and anal sex thinking they won't get pregnant. They are completey uneducated about sexual trasmitted diseases and misinformed on how not to get pregnant. Conservatives say they are afraid of what educating young people about sex will lead to. Well, we certainly know what not educating them leads to.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

20. You write that like it's a BAD thing.

:rofl:

[ProSense]

16. "by focusing exclusively on encouraging children and adolescents to avoid sex" Complete distortion

Funding for comprehensive sex education is also in the bill. Sec. 2953 also provides “$75 million per year through FY2014 for Personal Responsibility Education grants to States for programs to educate adolescents on both abstinence and contraception for prevention of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.”

link

The abstinence-only funding is not the entire $250 million. This has been part of the Senate bill since last year.

[emulatorloo]

18. THNKS for the facts.

[Imperialism Inc.]

22. What facts? ProSense is completely confused.

The $250 million refers to $50 million per year over five years which is right in the link provided. "has allocated a yearly $50 million in grants to abstinence-only education programs" and "If the Senate language survives reconciliation, the Title V program will be extended through 2014" so 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014.

There is good news though. There is also $75 million per year in comprehensive sex education. Also, as in "in addition to". However, I don't think an inability to do basic multiplication and to understand basic English words like also is something to be applauded as providing "facts".

[SoCalDem]

19. 250 million over 5 years to 50 states. 1 mil per state per year

a drop in the bucket for a long-term "educational" program, but 250 million cash-money that could have been used as subsidies to set up regional health clinics might have been a better way to spend that money..

Lobbyists always manage to skim off tax money, especially if it's for some amorphous "educational program"..