Sign-on Letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Urging Opposition to New Funding for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs

Dear Representative:

We are writing to urge you, as a member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education of the House Appropriations Committee, to oppose any new funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.  There are two discretionary abstinence-only-until-marriage programs included in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill your subcommittee is scheduled to mark-up this week:  the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance-Community Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS) grant program and the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA).  

We know that many members of the subcommittee have heard from constituents asking that ""no new money"" be spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and we hope that you will heed their request.  

Of the federal government's three funding streams for abstinence-only-until-marriage (the third is funded through Title V of the Social Security Act and is authorized in conjunction with the Welfare Reform Law), the SPRANS program has had the largest increases.  In the last three fiscal years, funding for SPRANS has increased 175 percent-from $20 million to $55 million-in spite of the fact that there is no evidence of effectiveness.  Additionally, for FY 2004, President Bush has asked for another increase-to $73 million-for SPRANS.  Given the current fiscal environment and the lack of evidence to support further funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, we believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible to honor this request. 

Consider the following:  

• Not a single, sound study has shown abstinence-only-until-marriage programs to have a long-term beneficial impact on young people's behavior.  In spite of this, federal and state funding for such programs has totaled $700 million since 1996.  
• Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs can create harm by undermining contraceptive use when young people in these programs eventually become sexually active.  An analysis of ""virginity pledge"" programs shows that program participants were one-third less likely to use contraception when they did have sex compared to students not receiving the restrictive abstinence-only education.  Nationally, over 60% of young people will have had sexual intercourse before graduating from high school.  
• Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs censor our educators by limiting what grantees may teach or discuss, thereby forcing them to withhold vital information about pregnancy and disease prevention from our young people.  
• Half of the 40,000 new cases of HIV infection in the U.S. every year occur in young people under the age of 25, yet abstinence-only-until-marriage programs deny teaching young people about contraceptive methods proven to help prevent the transmission of many sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.  
• Education is one of the most powerful tools of prevention we have, yet the federal definition of abstinence-only education precludes federally funded programs from providing young people with full and accurate information about contraception.  
• Over 142 national organizations, including the country's major medical organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists belong to the National Coalition to Support Sexuality Education and strongly believe in teaching young people about both abstinence and contraception.  

We urge you to oppose any increase in funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill.  

Sincerely,

Advocates for Youth
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families 
The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI)
American Association for Health Education
American Association of Sex Therapists, Counselors & Educators (AASECT)
American Civil Liberties Union
Catholics for a Free Choice
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Reproductive Rights 
Choice USA
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) 
Gay Men's Health Crisis 
Girls Incorporated
Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Council of Jewish Women 
National Education Association
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)
National Minority AIDS Council
National Network for Youth
National Women's Health Network
National Women's Law Center
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Planned Parenthood of South Central New York, Inc.
Population Connection
Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations 
Women of Reform Judaism