Abstinence

April 18, 2008 -- The Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs: Assessing the Evidence” on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.

Federally-funded abstinence-only programs require the exclusive teaching of abstinence until marriage and prohibit teaching about condoms or other contraceptives — other than to discuss failure rates. These programs have received over $1.3 billion in federal funding over the past decade. Medical and scientific experts, as well as youth educators, will testify regarding the public health evidence of the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs and of more comprehensive programs.

o Ms. Shelby Knox, Youth Speaker    » read more »

Ask for end to ineffective and dangerous “abstinence-only” programs

On the heels of an alarming study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that one in four teen girls has a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and that more than three million teenage girls have an STI, newspaper editorials from across the country have echoed Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s call to end ineffective and dangerous “abstinence-only” programs.    » read more »

Study Proves Abstinence-Only Programs Are Ineffective

Washington, DC — Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) President Cecile Richards praised a report released today by Douglas Kirby, Ph.D., and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy definitively showing that abstinence-only programs are ineffective. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest network of sex education providers, called on Congress to stop funding abstinence-only programs that do nothing to help teens prevent unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.    » read more »

Jul 18, 2007 -- "We teach sex education, but there's no portion of sex education which talks about the advantages of waiting... We're saying let's provide an opportunity for parents and school districts to add abstinence to the curriculum." - Gov. Mitt Romney (Andrea Estes And Tracy Jan, "State Widens Teaching Of Abstinence," The Boston Globe, 4/21/06)

THE ROMNEY VISION: PROMOTING ABSTINENCE EDUCATION    » read more »

04 July 2007 -- A week ago, VOA’s Daybreak Africa program ran an interview with Africa analyst Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies. Woods described U.S. First Lady Laura Bush’s most recent visit to Africa as lacking substance. She also described President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR as driven by the administration’s political ideology.    » read more »