Liberal Group Calls Dems' Vote to Boost Abstinence Funds 'Cynical'

Who let the loons out?

From CNS NEWS:

A liberal youth group has criticized House Democrats for passing an appropriations bill last week that included a $27.8 million increase for "failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs."

"With friends like these, who needs conservative Republicans?" asked James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth.

"In one spectacularly cynical move, the Democrats turned their backs on science-based public health and chose political expediency over the health and well-being of young people," Wagoner said in a statement after the House passed the bill by a 276-140 vote on Thursday.

Wagoner, whose group says its function is to "help young people make safe, responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health," stated that "Democrats who have been ardent critics of abstinence-only voted to increase the very programs they opposed when Republicans controlled the Congress."

Well science based loon, there is only one 100% way to prevent from getting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies and that is NOT HAVING SEX! There is no other SCIENTIFIC way of preventing it 100%. Now does this mean we should not teach teens about STDS and show pictures of what it will do to them if they get them? No, I encourage scaring the hell out of them! Does that mean you do not discuss the contraceptives legally available to them if they decide to live dangerous sexually permissive lives? No, but it does mean I do not want you teaching SEX to the kids. This includes encouraging them to experiment with homosexuality. We need to do all we can to protect our kids by discouraging sex before adulthood and yes, marriage. does this mean they are all going to listen? No, but many will and even if only one listens it is worth the effort. Do I want these to be federally funded programs? No, the state should decide for themselves what they wish to teach and pay for it themselves.

That said, these people overlooked an awful lot.

Wagoner also pointed to a 10-year congressionally mandated evaluation of the program, released last April.

The report, carried out by a policy research group called Mathematica, found that "youth in the [abstinence-only] program group were no more likely than control group youth to have abstained from sex and, among those who reported having had sex they had similar numbers of sexual partners and had initiated sex at the same mean age," he said.[snip...]

Christensen also found it odd that the group cited the Mathematica report in its news release but failed to mention that in the same study, "comprehensive programs showed no reduction in teen STD [sexually transmitted disease] rates or teen pregnancy rates - so it showed that those programs weren't effective, either."

As a result, "these guys seem more anti-abstinence than they are interested in actually preventing the spread of STDs or teen pregnancies," he charged. [snip...]

He noted that the measure "also increases Title X family planning funding by $28 million to over $310 million total, and it includes a new item for $10 million in comprehensive sex ed programs through the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]."

Christensen said the Senate version of the appropriations measure "did gut the abstinence education program by cutting its funding and redefining it," though the bill must still undergo the conference committee process. Therefore, "it remains an open question as to whether the Democrats can produce a bill the president will sign."

President Bush has promised to veto the bill as it stands now, because it spends about $10 billion more than he requested.

As Cybercast News Service previously reported "comprehensive" sex education receives as much as 12 times more government funding than its abstinence-only counterpart.

and that is thee rest of the story...

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