Abstinence-only Sex Education
In 2008, Washington State received $1,563,773 in federal funding for abstinence-only education. Click here for a fact sheet with further information.
Sex education programs discussing both abstinence and contraception have been proven to increase knowledge, delay the onset of sex, reduce the frequency of sex, and increase contraceptive use. But over the last ten years, ideology, not science, has been driving America’s response to the devastating problem of teen pregnancy and STD/HIV infection. Funding for restrictive abstinence-only education dramatically increased under the Bush Administration. The Facts · In 2006, birth rates among 15-19 year old women in the U.S. increased 3%. · Half of unintended pregnancies in the U.S. occur among contraceptive users; 90% of these unintended pregnancies are the result from inconsistent or incorrect use of a birth control method. - Recent polling shows that 85% of Washington parents want schools to help them provide sexual health information to their teens (Global Strategy Group, 2004).
- The U.S. still leads the industrialized world in teen pregnancy and birth rates. Despite the recently declining rates, 34% of teenage girls get pregnant at least once before they reach age 20, resulting in 820,000 teen pregnancies a year.
- Seven in 10 Americans oppose the use of federal funds to promote abstinence-only programs that prohibit teaching about condoms and contraception.
- In 2007, more than 6,600 STDs were reported among young people in Washington 15 to 19 years old. In 2007, Washington State had 12,015 pregnant teens aged 15 to 19. Pregnancy rates among teens ages 15 and 19 years old increased 2% between 2005 and 2007.
- Washington law requires schools to provide some HIV/AIDS education, including abstinence, but does not require sexuality education; however, under the 2007 Healthy Youth Act, if a school district provides sexuality education, the law requires the instruction to be comprehensive and medically and scientifically accurate.
Abstinence-only Education
- President Obama has committed to supporting comprehensive sex education, and advocates are currently working to make this a reality. In March of 2009, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) formally introduced a bill entitled the REAL Act that would authorize federal funding for comprehensive sex education.
- For eight years, presidentially-endorsed abstinence-only programs stress abstinence until marriage while failing to provide complete information about contraception and STD/HIV prevention. Abstinence-only programs have received over half a billion dollars in federal funds since 1997.Yet no federal program exists for comprehensive, honest, sex education that teaches young people about both abstinence and contraception. Allies are working on changing this.
- Research by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy in 2004 shows: “To date, six studies of abstinence-only programs have been published. None of these studies has found consistent and significant program effects on delaying the onset of intercourse, and at least one study provided strong evidence that the program did not delay the onset of intercourse.”
- The 2004 Waxman Report has documented that abstinence program materials contain false and misleading information.
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction http://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/healthfitness/Healthyyouthact.aspx Healthy Youth Alliance http://www.healthyyouthalliance.org/
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