House Democrats lauded for increasing abstinence education funds

House Democrats lauded for increasing abstinence education funds

A major setback has been dealt to opponents of abstinence-only education, and the Democrat-led House of Representatives is being praised for dealing that blow.

The House recently passed a Labor-HHS appropriations bill (HR 3043) that included a nearly $28 million increase for abstinence education programs, raising the annual funding for community-based abstinence education to $141 million. Even liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voted in favor of the bill.

Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA), says she hopes the "commonsense" approach of encouraging teens to abstain from sex until marriage will also prevail in the Senate.

"I applaud the House's vote," the abstinence advocate says. "It both signifies continued support for abstinence education and the 1.5 million teens that are individual organizations that are members of NAEA [that] provide that funding. But it also shows and demonstrates that we need to be able to provide this to even more teens around the country," she adds.

The group Advocates for Youth, which supports comprehensive sex education, said Democrats who voted for the bill "turned their backs on science-based public health and chose political expediency over the health and well-being of young people." But Huber claims Advocates for Youth does not have the best interest of youth at heart. She claims that they are spouting their own "ideological bend," rather than basing their findings in true science.

The spokeswoman for NAEA claims that abstinence from sexual activity until marriage is the best way to protect youth from sexually transmitted diseases. "Advocates for Youth, on the other hand, doesn't see a thing wrong with young people engaging in risky sexual behavior as long as they use a condom," she says.

Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $28 million decrease in community-based abstinence funding. The full Senate has yet to consider the legislation.