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October 19, 2007
A Case Against Abstinence-Only Education
A decision by the House of Representatives to increase federal funding for abstinence-only sex education could “leave millions of young Americans vulnerable to sickness and suffering of the most preventable kind,” according to New York Times op-ed contributor Amanda Robb (NYTimes.com, 10/18).
In order to garner support from Republicans for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), House Democrats agreed to increase funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Community-Based Abstinence Education Program by $28 million, writes Robb, who argues that abstinence-only sex education is “ineffective and dangerous.”
“By dropping the financing for abstinence-only sex ed, Congress could save enough money to insure 150,000 children a year. And it would also demonstrate much needed resolve to protect all aspects of children's health,” she writes.
