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WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services released a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for initiatives that promote healthy marriages — as long as those projects don’t include abstinence-education programs.
FOA applicants are required to include a written statement pledging that abstinence education is not a part of their programs. In fact, teaching abstinence is defined as an “unallowable activity.”
Groups are asked to make a “commitment to not use funds for unauthorized activities, including, but not limited to, an abstinence-education program.”
The funding for these marriage programs comes from the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, which includes $75 million for “healthy-marriage promotion” and “responsible fatherhood grants.”
Valerie Huber, director of the National Abstinence Education Association, was not happy with the new federal policy.
“Preventing youth from receiving sexual-abstinence skills is very troubling and completely ignores the body of research that now links teen sex to future divorce in marriage,” she said.
The FOA was released when Huber was lobbying members of Congress to sign a bipartisan letter asking the Appropriations Committee that at least half of all sex-education funds be allotted for abstinence education.
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., was a co-sponsor of the letter. He said, “Abstinence education has been an important issue for me during my service in Congress. The risk-avoidance approach of abstinence education appropriately prepares youth to make informed decisions.”
Huber and Boren argue that they have the facts on their side.
In their work on human sexuality, the Family Research Council has found that “risk avoidance or abstinence messaging serves as the best primary prevention approach for those who both have and have not been sexually active outside of marriage.”
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., cites at least 10 scientific studies backing the effectiveness of abstinence programs in preventing early sexual activity.
One study released this year in The Journal of Marriage and Family concludes that females who had sex in their teenage years were twice as likely to divorce later in life than those who waited to have sex.
Huber called out the Obama administration for ignoring the evidence and continuing to insist on an anti-abstinence education platform.
According to the National Abstinence Education Association, the ratio of sex-ed spending to abstinence-education spending is now over 16-1.
“The unexplained hostility to risk-avoidance abstinence programs defies the evidence-based framework that the Obama administration purports to support,” Huber said.
“With the numerous sex scandals continually played out in the media, it is disturbing that programs encouraging self-restraint and self-respect are viewed as the enemy of the ‘healthy marriages’ these programs are designed to achieve.”
Public health officials and liberal scholars have long questioned the efficacy of abstinence education, but a 2007 report released by the Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. marked a more serious challenge to the effectiveness of this approach and provided powerful ammunition for skeptics. In the last four years, experts have continued to debate the issue, with proponents of abstinence education asserting that the 2007 report only evaluated a handful of more than 900 programs then in place, some of which did not include middle or high school students..
The FOA is just one of a number of blows against abstinence education over the past few years. New York City recently released a mandate to public middle and high schools requiring sex-education classes that include instruction on proper condom use and when it is appropriate to engage in sexual activity.
According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the mandate is a part of the administration’s strategy to improve the lives of black and Latino teenagers.
In the U.S. today, 73% of black children are born to unwed mothers, and 53% Hispanic children are born out of wedlock. In New York City, black and Latino teenagers are also more likely than white teenagers to experience unplanned pregnancies and contract sexually transmitted diseases.
According to Bloomberg, this mandate is one of a number of public-health policies designed to improve the lives of minorities in the city.
While the mandate has received positive feedback from many groups in the New York community, Catholic leaders have expressed serious concern.
Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said, “Rates of teen sexual activity and pregnancies continue to soar, despite condoms being freely given away, including in our public schools.”
“Abstinence before marriage is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and disease, and recent scholarship has shown that abstinence education leads to healthier, better adjusted teens and young adults. The city would be better advised to put its efforts into promoting what truly works rather than continuing to promote a failed experiment,” Zwilling said.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan publicly criticized the mandate during a televised interview..
“What message are we giving our kids when we say, ‘We know you’re going to do this’ to fourth-graders. ‘We know you’re probably going to succumb to all the temptations around you, and everybody’s doing it. We know you can’t be good, so be careful.’ I don’t know if that’s a wise message to give our kids,” Archbishop Dolan said in an interview with a local New York news channel.
The ongoing battle in the United States over the merits of abstinence education drew attention in Rome.
In a front-page column for L’Osservatore Romano, Lucetta Scaraffia, professor of contemporary history at the University of Rome La Sapienza, backed Archbishop Dolan’s response.
“It is not clear why public institutions in the West continue to have such magical trust in the effectiveness of sex education,” Scaraffia wrote. “By now, it’s clear that it is absolutely not enough to explain how to use contraceptives and where to find them easily in order to avoid these tragedies.”
She concluded, “The problem is more upstream, in education and therefore in the family.”
Register correspondent Mary Frances Boyle writes from Washington, D.C.
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Not to mention all of the bad information that non-abstinence programs often teach and important information that they completely skip…refer to Dr. Miriam Grossman.
Articles like this are why no Catholic should vote for the democratic party right now.
Thank you, President Obama, for scrupulously selecting non-believing Catholics like your HHS director Ms. Kathleen Sebelius, who never saw a progressive (AKA “Liberal”), anti-family ruling she didn’t like. Ms. Sebelius is a public scandal to the Church and should be held to account PUBLICLY by her bishop for her adament support of Obama’s Planned Parenthood-friendly, pro-abort agenda.
The current elected and appointed “leaders and servants” of the people have over and over again spat in the eye of our true leader, Jesus Christ in the name of service to the people. What people is the problem. To me, it’s clear what people that they serve, and it’s not the people of God. Claiming to be Christian while advocating for abortion, removal of religious symbols and icons, removal of prayer from schools, even removing any mention of God from public life at all especially, the prayer services for our war dead at Arlington National Cemetery, does not qualify one as Christian. Being elected or appointed to a public office does not make one God, either. Too many public servants are not concerned with the will of the people, except certain pockets of society, nor the will of God. Seems that their only concern is being elected to a position whereby the public ATM is opened wide to allow them to become rich by taking “contributions” from the promoters of a Godless society. I may be wrong because I am not God and cannot know his thoughts, but, I do know one thing. There WILL be an atoning, and, renouncing their anti life, and anti Christ behaviors is the only way that their immortal souls can be saved from landing in Hell for all eternity. These people of denial, are in great need of our prayers for their conversion to Christian life. We, as Christians have to pray for them, even when they show no desire to accept prayer. It is our duty as Gods children to carry His word to those who haven’t heard it or deny it.
This starts at the top. Every president chooses people who will carry out his agenda, believe in his philosophy, and ensure its success. Make no mistake, the current administration has a culture of death as one of it’s primary philosophies. From abortion, to late term abortion, the health care plan will promote, encourage and eventually bring about death panels, sooner than later I am afraid. They will lie to your face about their intentions, if they are discovered, for they themselves know the revolt will occur in the country when such things begin to be carried out. “Give grannie a pain pill,” because she isn’t getting the surgery she needs to stay alive, remember that famous quote from a press conference back in 2009. These people will stop at nothing to bring about a controlled society, one envisions as utopia, created by them and for them. The elderly, the infirmed, the disabled, the weak and the outcast, all will be at the mercy of evil, evil in the guise of thoughtful, intellectually superior human beings. Now if this is not playing God, I do not know what else is. The very people Jesus sought out, that Jesus healed and ministered to, are the very people the administration will extingush in a blink of an eye. If one is so fervent in their desire to kill the most innocent in the womb of their mother, the saftest palce on earth for them to be, then one will to to any lenght to extingush anybody who will be rendered defenseless. I have two consolations, 1) if anybody has their eyes opened, there is no way they get relected, and 2) the day will come when they have to answer to their maker for the things they have done. Oh, how I wish I could sit in on that conversation.
You may ask, what does all this have to do with not allowing abstience being taught? Well, that is simple. There is only one segment of society that would want abstience taught, mindful, faithful Catholics, and what do Catholics stand up for against everyone else in society, Dignity of Life! Catholics are one of the administrations biggest eneimes, which is why such a concept in “not allowable.” Can we Catholics, that is 65 million of us, make sure this administration is absent from our lives once and for all and DO NOT vote for them next year. Then we can get back to a culture of Life instead of the culture of death we now live under.
God Bless
The Obama administration seems to be doing everything in its power to undermine morality in our country. It is outrageous that abstinence education will not be permitted under this new FOA. I pray that Obama will only be a one-term President.
Now let’s not get all excited about this latest in a long line of “left” wing perfidy after all Bloomberg, Sebelius, Obama and company will all be on the “right” side of immigration policy so as we are asked to balance the pile of manure on the scales next Election we will get another 40 page booklet from the USCCB that explains that in all good conscience all this manure is just good “green” compost and in all Peace and Justice it is more than outweighed by their religiously correct stance on immigration policy. So go ahead and throw your kids under the liberal bus; hold your nose and feel ok about voting these Orwellian creatures back into office it is no big deal.
“FOA applicants are required to include a written statement pledging that abstinence education is not a part of their programs. In fact, teaching abstinence is defined as an “unallowable activity.” “
—my reply, are you kidding me? what the heck is wrong with educating a person about abstinance? It would only promote a person’s choice to be moral, responsible, respectful of their bodies, avoid getting AIDS or an STD and unwanted pregnancy…Oh, wait! That means a woman wouldn’t be able to be convinced by planned parenthood to get an abortion so they can make money—how silly of me!
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Posted by Chris Byrne on Monday, Sep 12, 2011 5:41 PM (EDT):The Obama administration seems to be doing everything in its power to undermine morality in our country. It is outrageous that abstinence education will not be permitted under this new FOA. I pray that Obama will only be a one-term President.”
—I AGREE WITH YOU 150%!! Obama’s followers are the most evil, wretched, immoral and degrading people ever. It’s been like Soddom and Gommoreah for the past 3 years.
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I’m not sure where this article got it’s information but it IS NOT entirely true. PEOPLE don’t just read an article and say okay we’re not going to vote democrat. Go to the source, look up the information yourself. I did and this is what i found on the Health and Human Services website. They have rolled abstinence training into teen pregnancy prevention programs and it is stated SPECIFICALLY that abstinence education will be a part of the overall funding. This line item gets $179,000,000.00 +additional monies for territories and tribal lands. Additionally “Obamacare” dedicates an additional $35,000,000.00 for ABSTINENCE EDUCATION ONLY.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK PEOPLE. AND THE EDITORS OF THIS PAPER OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED FOR NOT TELLING THE ENTIRE STORY!
As a Jewish believer in the Son of God YESHUA ( his hebrew birth name; not the pagan name Jesus ); it is written in the TANAKH / Scriptures, The Hebrew Scriptures; a male and female created from the devine design of YAHOVAH; male and female becoming one, in marriage; then the act of sexual intercourse is holy, in the eyes of The Holy Father of heaven; YESHUA Messiah, The Holy One of Israel. Amein. B’RESHEET / GENESIS 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Amein.
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