Government Abstains from Abstinence-Only "Education"
After the addition of a last-minute reproductive rights fail, the Senate health care bill passed today. Sigh.
Health reform that thumbs its nose at women's rights and has no public option to be found doesn't exactly inspire me to put on my dancing shoes. But it's been a tough year, and we deserve a little celebration! So stop seething over how much better off we'd be if a sex scandal broke involving Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman -- leading to an epiphany that they need to leave politics to "focus on their families" -- and break out the champagne (or sparkling apple cider) anyway. Because, and don't have a heart attack or anything, the American government actually passed a bill that with some awesomely female-friendly provisions last week.
That's right: the omnibus spending bill isn't throwing women under the bus, although it is tossing abstinence-only "education" (as they call it) out the window. George W. Bush might have thought funding ineffective, inaccurate, and intolerant ab-only programs were just the cat's meow, but now those precious federal dollars will go toward comprehensive sex education for youth.
The party must have been wild at anti-choice organizations' headquarters when this provision was announced. I'm talking keg stands, the boss dancing on the kitchen counter, and noise complaints from at least a hundred of their closest neighbors. Because all the want to do is reduce the number of abortions, right? And, as the New York Times points out, "Most of the nation’s recent progress in reducing the abortion rate has occurred in states that have shown a commitment to real sex education." Party in the house!
Wait, my bad. They aren't concerned with stopped unplanned pregnancies -- they're concerned with controlling women's bodies and decisions. Anti-choice. Oops. I guess that's why they're restoring a cool $50 mil in grants to ab-only programs in the Senate health care bill.
Oh well. I guess us pro-choicers here at the Women's Rights blog will just have to toast to the omnibus bill's provisions leading to fewer unwanted pregnancies, lower rates of STIs, and better informed youth on our own!
A few other things to celebrate in this legislation: low-income women receiving support in affording family-planning services, saying good-bye to the ban on D.C. using its own tax revenue to provide wider abortion access, and funding for human trafficking services. I'll drink to that.
Alex DiBranco
is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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