Obama Nixes Federal Funds for Abstinence-Only Sex Ed

by Clay Burell · 2009-05-08 00:50:00 UTC
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A very modern "Amen" to this one. Obama's fiscal year 2010 budget eliminates federal funding for teaching abstinence-only sex ed:

Instead of promoting abstinence ed, Obama is proposing a new teen pregnancy prevention initiative that supports "evidence-based" and "promising" models. Once again, Obama is reversing policies set in place under President Bush, who asked for more than $100 million in funds last year for abstinence-only programs. Several states opted to turn down federal funds rather than be forced to forgo contraception education in public schools.

The new budget includes $50 million in funds for states to use for teen pregnancy prevention programs. What's not clear, though, is which comprehensive sex education programs will be funded. There's quite a bit of difference among them, with some far better than others. It's also not clear how "evidence-based" will be defined. Just how many studies are needed to determine if a program is effective? And how few are needed to deem a program "promising"? You can see the full budget here; scroll down to page 39 to see the part about teen pregnancy programs. (source)

Clay Burell
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