SIECUS State Profiles: A Portrait of Sexuality Education and
Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in the States Released Today
Congress Allocates $176 million to States in Fiscal Year 2006
Washington, DC - The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) is pleased to announce the release of the fourth edition of SIECUS State Profiles: A Portrait of Sexuality Education and Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in the States. The publication is the most comprehensive document of its kind, detailing sexuality education and abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in states and communities across the country during Fiscal Year 2006. It contains information on each state’s laws, recently proposed legislation, and noteworthy events related to sexuality education. The profiles also detail the amount of money states and state-based entities receive for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and how the funds are used.
"There is a great deal of focus across the nation this year on funding for abstinence-only programs. The SIECUS State Profiles allow policymakers, educators, and the media on the state and federal level to see how tax dollars are being spent," said William Smith, vice president for public policy at SIECUS. "The Profiles show that there are millions of dollars a year going to programs based on fear and misinformation that do nothing to teach young people the facts they need to be healthy and responsible as adults," Smith continued.
Since 1982, the U.S. government has spent over a $1.5 billion on unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs through three major funding streams. These funding streams are: Title V, passed as part of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act; Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) Grants; and the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA). Of that money, over $800 million has been spent during just the current administration. Under the leadership of President Bush there has been a continued expansion of investment in these programs with more than $175 million allocated for Fiscal Year 2007 alone.
These programs are prohibited from discussing contraceptives except in the context of failure rates and have never been proven effective. Most recently, a scientifically conducted, multiple-year study by Mathematica Policy Research Inc., commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services, showed that young people who graduate from abstinence-only programs are no more likely than their peers to wait for sex.
“Study after study has shown that abstinence-only programs don’t work. Abstinence-only was an ill-advised experiment with young people’s lives at stake, and it has failed. It is time for us to stop paying for this fiasco,” concluded Smith.
The full state reports are available on the SIECUS website at www.siecus.org/policy/states.
If you have questions, or would like to receive the report for a specific state, please contact Patrick Malone at pmalone@siecus.org or (212)819-9770 ext. 316.
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