The recent report from the Administration for Children and Families defends abstinence-only programs by attacking comprehensive sexuality education.

By William Smith, SIECUS.

Senator Tom Coburn must have felt like a champ last week.  He released his own missive on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), claiming in the title of the document that the CDC's "wasteful" spending indicated a "CDC Off Center." The 114 pages of that report have consumed more paper and staff time in its creation than it is worth.  Until the CDC comes fully into line with Dr. Coburn's vision of fiscal restraint and public health strained through an ideological sieve, such diatribes make for amusing reading.  I was pleased to see that yours truly made the cut when Coburn retold the story of how I got booted from a peer-reviewed panel at the national STD conference. I was tossed out because I was actually going to question the public health rationale for abstinence-only-until-marri age programs--of course, that's not exactly how Coburn told the story. Amusingly, the CDC ended up picking up the last minute tab for the goofs brought in to replace me--of course the report didn't mention that.

 

By Eesha Pandit

In Iowa, Oregon and Milwaukee the sex-education tide's-a-turning. Each of these places is on the path to offering sex education in their schools that is based on truthful information about sex. Well, the statistics don't lie and it's about time that we started paying attention to the grand failure that is abstinence-only sex ed.

By Andrea Lynch

Not since the appointment of Dr. W. David Hager to the FDA's reproductive health drugs advisory committee have Americans been so abuzz about an anti-family planning zealot appointed by the Bush administration to a federal body responsible for providing family planning information and services. Just over two months into his tenure as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (where he administers $283 million annual budget of federal family planning grants), we are still uncovering evidence of "Doctor" Eric Keroack's staggering lack of credentials. The latest exhibit is "OXYTOCIN: Is this NANO-PEPTIDE a chemical type of HUMAN `SUPER-GLUE'?" (emphasis most definitely NOT mine), the PowerPoint presentation that sealed his infamy in the eyes of self-respecting scientists, physicians, and non-crazy people everywhere.

By Amie Newman  

Willful Ignorance is Courtney Martin's insightful analysis of the true consequences of abstinence-only zealotry (because abstinence-only "education", once and for all, is NOT education). Martin's hypothesis states, "If we want to change the toxic sexual culture on our nations' college campuses, we need to start looking at the sex education our high-schoolers receive." And it's got progressive bloggers buzzing. But is Martin's theory enough to explain away some of the more vicious offenses on college grounds?

By James Wagoner

Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not." I like this quote because it challenges those of us working in the reproductive health field to ask the vision question - - the question that begins with "why not?"

 

Why not a society where young people are valued rather than stereotyped, prized as assets rather than discounted as liabilities? Why not a society where sexuality is viewed as a normal, positive aspect of being human, of being alive, rather than as forbidden fruit to be locked away in a fortress of shame, fear, and denial? Why not a society where public policy is based on science and research rather than politics and ideology? Why not a society where values, morality, and character are used to infuse sexuality with meaning - with its truly human dimension - rather than misused to deny young people information that could one day save their lives.

 By Amie Newman

Car crashes are the #1 cause of death among American teenagers. A terrifying statistic to contemplate for parents with children of any age. But what is the remedy? Do we withhold information on safe and responsible driving for teens hoping if they don't have the information they just won't drive? Like it or not, cars are an integral part of American life. Partners for Safe Teen Driving, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization, would like to reduce the number of teen car crashes by creating (gasp!) "educated and responsible teenage drivers with a commitment to safe and responsible driving." In most high schools around the country, a drivers' education course is offered. Parents talk to their teens about how to drive safely; they give them pointers based on their own driving history. Parents and educators work collectively to give our young people the tools they need to literally navigate the roads of life. This couldn't be farther from the truth when we talk about reducing the rates of unintended pregnancies or the incidence of sexually transmitted infections among teens. Yet instead of ensuring that our youth have access to researched, proven and effective sexual health education, we continue to withhold the information they need to lead healthy lives.

 

"Efforts by HHS and states to assess the scientific accuracy of materials used in abstinence-until-marriage education programs have been limited. This is because ACF - which awards grants through two programs that account for the largest portion of federal spending on abstinence-until-marriage education - does not review its grantees' education materials for scientific accuracy and does not require grantees of either program to review their own materials for scientific accuracy."

 

• Government Accountability Office report, "Abstinence Education:  Efforts to Assess the Accuracy and Effectiveness of Federally Funded Programs"

   

By way of the mighty Pandagon, we find the the creepiest thing I've come across in quite a while.  It's the South Dakota alternative to the traditional Father-Daughter Dance, the "Purity Ball:"

It is impossible to convey what I have seen in their sweet spirits, their delicate, forming souls, as their daddy takes them out for their first, big dance. Their whole being absorbs my loving attention, resulting in a radiant sense of self-worth and identity. Think of it from their perspective: My daddy thinks I'm beautiful in my own unique way. My daddy is treating me with respect and honor...My daddy really loves me!"

OK--I'm the father of a pre-teen girl.  I can relate to that.  Nothing wrong there (well, okay, not much), and I think we'd all agree that our society could use more men spending time with their kids.

But then there's the pledge.

A-B-S-T-I-N-E-N-C-E = B-A-L-O-N-E-Y

   The Romney administration plans to introduce a new abstinence education program in Massachusetts schools beginning next month, the state's most aggressive effort yet to use a controversial method of teaching Bay State teenagers about sex.

(more)