GMHC argues
against federal funding for abstinence-only programs

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote this week on an appropriations bill that includes $141 million for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for sex education. That amount represents a $27.8 million budget increase for such programs--although Gay Men's Health Crisis says it's a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Since 1996 the federal government has spent over a half a billion taxpayer dollars on abstinence-only programs despite numerous federal, state, and independent evaluations showing the programs to be counterproductive. "Abstinence-only programs are not only ineffective; they are actually harmful in the messages they convey to youth," said GMHC CEO Marjorie J. Hill in a statement. "Programs that call for abstinence until marriage promote sexist gender-based stereotypes about women and men and their roles in sex and relationships. They also promote an antigay bias, insisting that the only proper place for sex is within the context of heterosexual marriage and that AIDS is the inevitable result of homosexuality." A 2006 study by the independent Society for Adolescent Medicine called the programs "scientifically and ethically flawed" and concluded that the "efficacy of abstinence-only interventions may approach zero." According to the Guttmacher Institute, 23% of U.S. school districts run abstinence-only programs. Results of the program have shown them to be ineffective in increasing abstinence among teens. According to the GMHC, the rate of sexually transmitted infections and HIV has increased among youths since these programs were implemented, with 4 million young people in the United States contracting sexually transmitted diseases annually. One of GMHC's main concerns with abstinence-only programs is they prohibit discussions about contraception or condoms except in the context of their failure rates. As a result, American teens are uninformed about effectively protecting themselves from unplanned pregnancies, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections. GMHC reports that young people ages 15-24 account for about half of all new HIV infections reported in the United States each year. (The Advocate)