Listen up, fellow feminazi bonerkillers! The days of our federal tax dollars going to brainwash our younger sisters about birth control–a.k.a. “Community Based Abstinence Education”– are over. Champagne and condoms for everyone!
As you may recall:
Under the Bush administration, CBAE grants went to programs that teach kids the only way to prevent pregnancy and avoid sexually-transmitted infections is to postpone sex until marriage. Budget language explicitly prevented those programs from providing students “any other education regarding sexual conduct.”
We all know how well that worked. Teen pregnancy rates are on the rise and even the GOP’s resident youth authorities Meghan McCain and Bristol Palin have both gone on record saying that the right-wing’s emphasis on abstinence only is disingenuous, ignorant and ”not realistic at all.” (At least, that’s what Bristol said before she snapped back into line earlier this week).
The Obama budget eliminates the main source of federal funding for abstinence-only education and replaces them with $110 million in competitive grants to “fund teen pregnancy prevention programs.” At least $75 million of that is reserved for
…programs that replicate the elements of one or more teenage pregnancy prevention programs that have been proven through rigorous evaluation to delay sexual activity, increase contraceptive use (without increasing sexual activity), or reduce teenage pregnancy.
ZOMG, rigorous evaluation! And contraceptive use! Sweet, sweet contraceptive use!
The Obama program also also authorizes $50 million in new mandatory teen pregnancy prevention grants to states, in order to create new and hopefully more effective programs to replace the outdated, abstinence-emphasizing ones. There’s real mandate for this kind of change: a study in 2004 by Kaiser Permanente showed that over 95% of parents with middle-schoolers said they thought contraception was an “appropriate topic” for sex-ed classes.
NB: these programs are aimed at reducing teen pregnancy only. They’re not comprehensive programs meant to cover HIV and STI prevention too. But any program that pushes condom use–and condoms being cheap and readily available to teens, I think that’s what these programs will be emphasizing–will also help protect teenagers’ health.
Reality FTW!
Holy crap, they’re going to actually use evidence-based program evaluations? Science? Using what works? I haven’t seen that in years.
It’s morning in America!
The sun is shining brighter today.
This made my morning. Thanks for the good news, Harpies!
FINALLY!!!
Huzzah!
I grew up in a Christian household, BUT I was also told the truth about sex, STDs, pregnancy. I was discouraged from having premarital sex BUT also taught how to always use a condom. I was taught that sex was between two people who were in love and to never ever let a boy pressure me into having sex BUT sex (and masturbation) were for pleasure as well.
I cannot tell you how many times I had to refute bogus info my peers had about sex. Absintence only breeds misinformation and confusion. Darn near every chick who had some bullshit like “anal sex isn’t sex” or “you can’t get pregnant standing up” ended up preggers by a sophomor in college. Or how about “you can only spread herpes if you are having an outbreak”? They only way to prevent the spread of disease and unwanted children is education, education, education.
You can teach both.