Talk about throwing good money after bad. Despite a definitive new study showing that federally funded abstinence-only programs fail, Congress is proposing increases to this year’s abstinence-only spending. Not only do abstinence only programs fail to reduce teen sexual activity, the study shows that they actually impede efforts to prevent sexually transmitted disease. 

In the face of this evidence, House Democrats are joining the president in proposing to increase the largest of the federal abstinence-only funding streams, the Community Based Abstinence Education program (CBAE).  President Bush had suggested inflating the $200 million plus that we already spend each year for abstinence-only programs, and Democrats in Congress jumped to “obey” in a deal brokered by Congressman David Obey. Already there has been almost 1.5 billion dollars spent on ineffective abstinence-only programs since 1982. 

This spending increase is now brought to you by the “new” Democratic leadership in Congress. Same waste, different Congress.

Such blatant disregard for a study that Congress itself mandated and funded is astounding. And, as the latest study confirms, abstinence-only programs are not just wasteful but cause actual harm, particularly placing women’s and girls’ health at risk.

The study, conducted by the non-partisan Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., at the behest of Congress, confirmed that abstinence-only programs are ineffective at reaching their stated goals. Students who participate in these programs are as likely to have sex by age 16 as their peers who did not participate, and they are likely to have had as many partners as those who did not take abstinence-only classes. 

Worse still, these programs actually cause harm to young people. The study finds that students who are exposed to abstinence-only programs become less informed about the use of condoms to prevent STDs. Alarmingly, those taking part in abstinence-only programs were more likely to incorrectly believe that “condoms are never effective at preventing STDs,” including HIV and HPV. 

In particular women and girls suffer as a result of these programs because they are the ones who get pregnant and who are more biologically vulnerable to the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Being taught to distrust condoms can have deadly consequences – particularly for young women of color, the group with the fastest growing rates of HIV infection.

The next step could not be more clear: we need to pull the plug on funding for abstinence-only programs.  Yet Congress is trying to horse trade away this goal; apparently finding it easier to throw money at harmful and ineffective programs than to even talk about talking about sex. 

The public health cost of federal programs that fund sexual ignorance is too high. It’s time to start funding policies that promote comprehensive reproductive education essential to protecting girls and women’s health. And it’s time for Congress to start acting like the regime change that this country voted for last year.