Dear Appropriations Committee Member:
We are writing to urge you to oppose any new funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs included in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill your committee is scheduled to mark-up tomorrow, July 14.
The bill approved by the subcommittee on July 8 includes a $35 million increase for the Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) program. This program is the most strict of the federal government's three funding streams for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (the Adolescent Family Life program is also included in this bill and a third funding stream comes through the welfare reform law). The total funding for these programs is approximately $173 million-a 25% increase over last year's funding despite the recommended mere .1% increase for domestic discretionary programs overall.
These increases are in spite of mounting reports from the states (Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, in particular) that these programs are ineffective and have little beneficial impact on young people's sexual behavior. Additionally, not a single, sound study has shown abstinence-only-until-marriage programs to have a long-term beneficial impact on young people's behavior.
The undersigned groups propose that no new increases be approved for unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage funding and that you move the requested funding to other accounts that are severely under-funded. Since its inception, the SPRANS-CBAE abstinence-only-until-marriage program, in particular, has received extraordinary increases including a doubling of the funding in the first two years, followed by increases in FY03 to $55 million and in FY04 to $75 million. These increases are in spite of a lack of evidence showing efficacy. Meanwhile, many other worthy and effective programs are being starved.
Further increasing funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs not only withholds available funds from vital health and education programs but also puts young people at risk by subjecting them to programs that have not been proven effective and may actually be causing them harm. These 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. We ask that no new money be provided to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
Sincerely,
Advocates for Youth
American Civil Liberties Union
Human Rights Campaign
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Women's Law Center
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Population Connection
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
The Alan Guttmacher Institute