A response from David Price regarding abstinence-only sex education

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A few weeks ago, I wrote my state and federal legislators and congress-people stating my opposition to abstinence-only sex education and asking them to support the REAL Act (Responsible Education About Life Act). I recently received the following reply from the office of Congressman David Price, who serves the 4th District of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives. I don't agree with Price on every issue (in fact, I likely don't agree with any politician on every issue), but I appreciate his response to my concern:

Dear Ms. Stapleford:

Thank you for contacting me regarding funding for abstinence-only sex education. I appreciate having your perspective as an educator on this issue.

I agree that abstinence-only education is simply the wrong approach. Students need to be exposed to responsible, age-appropriate, and medically-accurate information emphasizing the benefits of abstinence while also teaching about contraception, pregnancy, and disease-prevention methods. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of the Responsible Education About Life Act (H.R. 1653), which would authorize grants to states to support comprehensive sex education that includes information about both abstinence and contraception.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has opted to focus federal resources solely on abstinence-only education programs -- requesting $141.2 million for these programs in fiscal year (FY) 2008, an increase of $27.8 million above the FY 2007 level. In July, the House approved an initial version of the FY 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043) that fully funds the president's request. However, H.R. 3043 proposes $310.9 million for family planning programs, an increase of $27.8 million above the FY 2007 level, to support a range of family planning and reproductive services. The Senate Appropriations Committee, which recently approved its initial version of the FY 2008 LHHS spending bill (S. 1710), recommended only $84.9 million for abstinence education programs, a cut of $28.5 million. S. 1710 now awaits action by the full Senate.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, I will be working to make federal sex education programs more comprehensive as the FY 2008 appropriations process moves forward in the coming weeks. Again, thank you for contacting me, and please continue to keep in touch when issues of concern come before the Congress.

Sincerely,
DAVID PRICE

Price is among the minority, though fortunately he is not the only vocal, visible supporter of the rights of all Americans to accurate information. Tomorrow at the first Sex and Culture book group of the season, we will be discussing Marty Klein's book, America's War on Sex, in which he examines the ways in which our government is stripping us of fundamental human rights, much in the same way that repressive societies across the world have done. Klein explains why taking away our sexual freedom damages everyone, shattering democracy instead of protecting it. Access to information of all kinds is one of the fundamental underpinnings of a democracy. One of the many ways in which we are denied access to information that he describes is the of dissemination of medically-inaccurate abstinence-only sex education.

The US government currently financially supports inaccurate and incomplete information in the form of abstinence-only sex education programs, which excludes accurate information on condoms, among other sexual topics of importance. Studies show that these abstinence-only programs lead to potentially harmful consequences for students. Other studies demonstrate that "abstinence-plus" programs, which include not only information on abstinence but also accurate information on condom use, STDs, and pregnancy prevention, are the only sex education programs which have been shown to decrease pregnancy rates, decrease the number of sexual partners, reduce the prevalence of anal sex, which can expose students to more risk, increase student awareness of AIDS and HIV, and increase condom use.

Taking action on sexual issues that matter is one way to more fully embrace your own sexuality while advocating for the rights of other people to do so as well. Supporting medically-accurate sexual education is one such issue that needs vocal support. To find out more about why I strongly oppose abstinence-only sex education and to learn more about what YOU can do, visit SIECUS's "No More Money for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs".