Just Say No to Funding Abstinence Programs

Politics is the art of compromise. But there are compromises and there are compromises. The Democrats in Congress are poised to vote to increase funding for abstinence programs, a multi-million dollar racket that takes federal money and puts it into the hands of religious crackpots. All the research into these abstinence programs -- into which the Bush Administration has poured more than 1 billion dollars -- shows that they don't work. So, in essence Congress enriches the Religious Right to fund their pet boondoggle. Talk about a waste of money. We need sex education, not abstinence education. Kids are going to have sex no matter what. They need to be educated to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, not have their minds filled with religious dogma. The bill is still being crafted; we can let Congress know how STUPID this is. The ACLU says the vote on the bill will come next week so there is still time.

Take action:

You can call your Congresscritter by calling the Congressional switchboard (202) 225-3121, and give them your Representative's name, or your zip code.

Use the ACLU form to send an email: Halt Funding Increase for Abstinence-Only "Education"

Use the Action Network's Population Connection form email Obey, Pelosi, and Hoyer: The Democrats did WHAT?!

Or use the Advocate for Youth form to send an email to your Representative. ('Tell the Democratic Leadership to end Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding!' is the first issue on the Take Action list.)

The National Family and Reproductive Health Association has a form that allows you to fax your member of Congress: Urge Congress to Put "Prevention First"

NARAL has a page that lets you email your Senators and Rep: Urge Congress to Make Sex Ed a Priority


Michael Reynolds, The Nation: The Abstinence Gluttons Learn all about the crackpots we are enriching with taxpayer dollars.

Laura Flanders, The Nation (via Common Dreams): Idiot Liberals Strike Again The inspiration for this post. She says "Idiot liberals" because that's what Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-WI) called a military mom who went to his Congressional office to ask him to end the war. Idiot.

The Hill: Harkin to tie stem cell research to spending bill The fight isn't over yet:

Supporters of stem cell research refuse to give up on getting their legislation signed into law this year.

As President Bush prepares to veto the measure Congress sent him last week, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is planning to attach the pro-research legislation to the spending bill being crafted by his Appropriations labor subcommittee.

That raises the stakes on the so-called “Labor-H” spending bill. House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.) has been trying to build a veto-proof majority for the bill, adding sweeteners to the bill such as an increase in abstinence-only education.

Bush already has threatened to veto spending bills that exceed his spending thresholds. Including legislation that repeals Bush’s 2001 stem cell research compromise could give him further incentive to nix the bill.

MSNBC: Abstinence students still having sex
Study tracked 2,057 young people in government-funded programs No kidding.

Campus Progress: Bad Science, Silly Gender Stereotypes, Dangerous Misinformation : Why Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Isn't Working

New Humanist: Unbuckling the bible belt (Nov 01, 03)
Orlando Radice on Bush’s virgins A Brit's take on our "value-laden pedagogy".