This World AIDS Day, Ask Congress to Stop Funding Harmful Abstinence-Only Programs

Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day. Despite the fact that worldwide, fewer people are getting infected with HIV and those that are HIV positive are living longer, women and young people are particularly vulnerable to contracting the virus. Half of all people living with HIV are women -- and half of all new infections occur among young people. AIDS is a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age around the world. It's not simply luck of the draw, of course. Women and young people are not being given access to the tools and information they need to protect themselves; and Congress has continued the outpouring of federal funds we've thrown into misleading at best --   and completely ineffective at worst --  abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Astoundingly, the health reform bill re-introduced $50 million for these Title V programs.

Women in this country -- and around the world -- are in danger of contracting HIV for other reasons as well, of course. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) says that in order to curb the epidemic, the United States needs to invest in quality sex education programs, but also ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services and woman-controlled HIV prevention methods like the female condom. It's not rocket science: if we can empower women and young people with tools and education, instead of cutting off access and using fear as a (failed) motivator, we'll save lives.

Unfortunately, in many places worldwide HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services are separated from other sexual and reproductive health services like family planning. We need to make it easier for women and young people to access the full range of care, in one place, at the same time; from HIV testing to birth control.

In fact, tomorrow, across the United States, Planned Parenthood student organizers plan to collect thousands of petition signatures to be sent to Congress, asking senators and representatives to “support successful investments in international women’s health, including reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention.”

But it's accurate, unbiased sex education which is, according to Leslie Kantor of PPFA, "the first line of defense" against the spread of HIV and AIDS. While regions around the world with little to no sex education see the greatest risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, young people in the U.S. are also blatantly being placed in harm's way with the misleading and inaccurate "Drink the Spit" sex education offered in schools. After spending more than $1.5 billion on failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in this country, it's time Congress gutted the funding once and for all, says Advocates for Youth.

This World AIDS Day, it's way past time to take action to protect the health and lives of women and young people around the world. Congress plans to invest in successful reproductive health programs, like the Global Health Initiative, which will address an expanded view of reproductive health which includes HIV/AIDS, and invests in women, girls and gender equality to help fight AIDS. But Congress can and must do more, by repealing all funding for harmful abstinence-only-until-marriage programs immediately through the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2010.

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