Abstinence message goes beyond teens
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.
Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.
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So, essentially, to prevent 20 to 29 year olds from having children, we are going to spend money on NOT telling them how to prevent having children. What a brilliant plan!
"The message is 'It's better to wait until you're married to bear or father children,' " Horn said. "The only 100% effective way of getting there is abstinence."
Yes, and the only 100% effective way of preventing car accidents is to not drive. Life is about calculated risks. My calculated risks include various sorts of birth control. Thus far, I've had better luck with preventing pregnancy than preventing car accidents.
For last year's state grants, Congress appropriated $50 million. A similar amount is expected for 2007, but the money has not yet been allocated, according to the Administration for Children and Families. - Abstinence message goes beyond teens
(sighs)
This just raises the idoicy of abstitence only sex-education by a few more points.
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On a more positive note:
New Jersey announced last week that it will not accept $800,000 in federal funds to teach abstinence-only sex education. Sex education programs in states that receive the federal funds are not allowed to teach students about contraception, must describe sex before marriage as “potentially mentally and physically damaging,” and must teach that “sex within marriage is ‘the expected standard of sexual activity’,” the Associated Press and Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy report. According to the Associated Press, New Jersey officials wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt that the requirements tied to the federal money violate the state’s sex education and AIDS education programs.
- NJ Says No to Abstinence-Only Sex Ed
