Re: Today's Mark Up of H.R. 4122 (Reauthorizing Abstinence-Only Funding)

Dear Representative: 

The American Civil Liberties Union urges you to support several amendments at today's mark up of H.R. 4122 that would mitigate the harms of the federal abstinence-only education program contained in Section 510 of the Social Security Act. H.R. 4122 would reauthorize Section 510's abstinence-only program through the year 2007. 

While the ACLU believes that discussion of abstinence is an important component of any educational program about human sexuality, we oppose programs, such as the one outlined in Section 510, that focus exclusively on abstinence and censor other valuable information that can help young people to make responsible and safe decisions about sexual activity and reproduction. Moreover, in addition to their restrictions on free speech, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs endanger the health of young people, create a hostile environment for lesbian and gay youth, and dangerously entangle the government with religion. Because of these serious civil liberties and public health concerns, the amendments that will be offered today are crucial to alleviate Section 510's harms. 

I. Section 510's Harms  

A. Section 510 Constitutes Government-Sponsored Censorship. 

The current Section 510 language permits federal funds to be used only for programs that have as their "exclusive purpose," teaching the benefits of abstinence. See 42 U.S.C. § 710. In addition, recipients of these funds may not provide a participating adolescent with any other information regarding sexual conduct in the same setting as the abstinence program. Thus, recipients of Section 510 funds operate under a federally imposed gag order that prohibits them from providing information in a funded program on preventing sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy through the use of recognized methods of contraception, even when they are asked directly for this information by a young person participating in the program. Because more comprehensive sexuality information cannot be provided in a Section 510 program, the result of these programs is that teachers are censored and students are denied critical information. 

B. Section 510 Programs Are Ineffective and Can Endanger Young People's Health. 

There is no compelling data that demonstrate that abstinence-only programs funded under Section 510 are effective in helping to delay sexual initiation or in reducing risk-taking behaviors among young people. In fact, the overwhelming weight of evidence suggests that programs that include messages about both abstinence and contraception are most effective in delaying the onset of sex among young people, reducing the number of sexual partners they have, and in making them better users of contraception when they do become sexually active. Evidence also suggests that the availability of federal abstinence-only dollars is steering schools away from teaching comprehensive sexuality education altogether, even in their non-restricted (i.e. non-federally funded) programs. According to one study, as of 1999, one-third of the nation's high schools were promoting abstinence-only education, while excluding information about contraception and safer sex. See Adam Sonfield and Rachael Benson Gold, States' Implementation of the Section 510 Abstinence Education Program, FY 1999, 33(4) Family Planning Perspectives 166 (2001). Thus, abstinence-only money is reducing the availability of information that young people -- many of whom are already sexually active -- need to protect their health and to prevent unintended pregnancies. 

C. Section 510 Programs Create a Hostile Environment for Lesbian and Gay Teens and Pose Particular Risks to the Health of These Teens. 

By excluding information about safer sex practices and teaching about sex only in the context of marriage, abstinence-only programs stigmatize gay and lesbian teens and undermine efforts to educate those teens about HIV and STD prevention. Abstinence-only programs also create a hostile environment for lesbian and gay youth. These programs rely on fear and shame and address same-sex sexuality only as a context for HIV transmission. At least two widely used abstinence-only curricula - "Clue 2000" and "Facing Reality" -- are overtly hostile to lesbians and gay men. Such hostility violates the rights of lesbian and gay youth to attend school free of discrimination. 

D. Section 510 Programs Entangle the Government with Religion. 

Many abstinence?only curricula contain religious prescriptions for proper behavior and values, in violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of the separation of church and state. A popular abstinence-only curriculum called "Sex Respect," for example, was originally designed for parochial school use. While it now uses the term "nature" in place of "God," it still has strong religious undertones and cites religious publications as its reference sources. Although federal guidelines do not permit abstinence-only grant recipients to convey religious messages and to impose religious viewpoints, in practice, many of these programs do precisely that. This is an inappropriate and unnecessary entanglement of government with religion. 

II. Today's Amendments 

The ACLU urges you to support three amendments that are expected to be offered at today's mark up, which will help mitigate Section 510's serious harms. 

A. Support the State Flexibility Amendment. 

This amendment would offer states the flexibility to fund programs with Section 510 money that comport with their own definition of abstinence-only education. While many programs that comport with Section 510's restrictive definition would likely continue to be funded, this amendment would also permit the funding of abstinence-based programs that educate teens about methods to reduce unintended pregnancy and other health risks. 

B. Support the Medical Accuracy Amendment 

This amendment would require that programs funded under Section 510 be medically and scientifically accurate. Currently, many Section 510 programs provide inaccurate information about the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the transmission of HIV and exaggerate the data on condom failure rates. This amendment would ensure that federal funds are not provided to programs that disseminate such misleading information, which poses grave risks to young people's health. 

C. Support the Proven Effectiveness Amendment 

This amendment would require that programs funded under Section 510 be proven after a rigorous scientific evaluation process. The amendment would ensure that federal money is used only for programs that have a proven record of effectiveness and success in reducing teenage sexual activity, increasing contraceptive rates, or reducing teen pregnancy. 

The ACLU urges you to support these modest amendments to reduce the serious civil liberties and public health harms of Section 510. 

Sincerely, 

Laura W. Murphy
Director 

Gregory T. Nojeim
Associate Director and Chief Legislative Counsel