An Incomplete Picture: Abstinence-Only Sex Education
In order to “support a strong system of public education that promotes gender fairness;” “advocate adequate and equitable funding for quality public education for all students;” protect “programs that meet the needs of girls in elementary and secondary education,” and guarantee “the separation of church and state” as well as “choice in the determination of one’s reproductive life,” all of which are principles of the American Association of University Women’s 2007-2009 Public Policy Program,1 AAUW opposes federal funding for abstinence-only sex education.
AAUW supports the right of every woman to obtain medically accurate information about and access to safe and comprehensive reproductive health services. AAUW opposes federally funded programs that limit young people’s information and choices by promoting only abstinence. Abstinence-only educational programs censor information on contraception, pregnancy prevention, and sexually transmitted diseases. Because the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy2 and sexually transmitted infection in the developed world,3 AAUW supports comprehensive sexuality education or “abstinence plus” programs that include information about both abstinence and contraception. Such programs are critical in helping to combat teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Federally-funded Abstinence-only Programs
Abstinence-only education or “abstinence-only-until-marriage” initiatives are sex education programs that teach abstinence as the only option for teenagers.4 Proponents of abstinence-only education argue against any discussion or education about contraception and safer sex, claiming “comprehensive sex-ed programs encourage contraceptive use, assuming that young people will be sexually active. The underlying message in these programs is that sexual activity is okay for teens as long as they use ‘protection.’5 However, recent studies conclude that sex education and condom availability programs in schools do not increase sexual activity among teenagers.6 Furthermore, in a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, researchers found no evidence that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs increased rates of sexual abstinence.7
Three federal programs fund abstinence-only education: the Adolescent Family Life Act, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (more commonly known as welfare/TANF), and Community-Based Abstinence (formerly known as the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance—Community-Based Abstinence Education).8 In comparison to the results yielded by abstinence-only programs, comprehensive sexuality education has demonstrated positive results such as delayed initiation of sex, reduced frequency of sex, and increased contraceptive use.9 Currently there are no federally funded programs dedicated to comprehensive sexuality education programs. In fact, the abstinence-only programs are prohibited from discussing contraceptives except in the context of failure rates.10
AAUW’s Concerns about Abstinence-Only Education
- Over 80 percent of abstinence-only curricula contain “false, misleading or distorted information about reproductive health.”11
- Abstinence-only programs have never been proven effective in delaying the onset of sexual activities of young people, and often result in riskier sexual behavior by teenagers.12
- While the funding for abstinence-only education programs has increased in recent years, funding for family planning programs such as Title X has not kept up with increased demands for service or inflation.13
- Abstinence-only programs promote gender stereotypes as fact. For example, one workshop manual states, “Men sexually are like microwaves and women sexually are like crockpots...a woman is stimulated more by touch and romantic words. She is far more attracted by a man’s personality while a man is stimulated by sight. A man is usually less discriminating about those to whom he is physically attracted.”14
- The U.S. is the only developed country with formal policies appropriating funds to abstinence-only programs.15
- Federally funded abstinence-only sex education blurs the line separating church and state through its religiously slanted teachings.16
- Abstinence-only programs contain medically inaccurate and biased language about HIV/AIDS17 and condoms.18
- Abstinence-only programs have received over half a billion dollars in federal funds since 1997, and the Bush administration continues to request large increases proposing that funding for abstinence-only programs reach $270 million in 2008.19 While this increase was denied by lawmakers, abstinence-only sex education continues to be funded.
In addition, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report in October 2006 that stated the efforts to ensure the scientific accuracy of abstinence-only education has been “limited.” GAO stated that this was because the Administration for Children and Families does not review the education materials used in abstinence-only education for scientific accuracy, nor require the program administrators themselves to do a review of the material.20 With so much at stake, as well as the use of taxpayer dollars, it is imperative that sufficient research and oversight be done on these programs to ensure that children are being provided with complete and medically accurate information.
AAUW Supports Comprehensive Sexuality Education
Comprehensive sexuality education is necessary for several key reasons. First, in 2006 the teen birth rate increased for the fist time in 15 years.21 Information about contraception, as well as about abstinence, is necessary to reduce the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. Second, there is a significant correlation between poverty and adolescent pregnancy.22 Adolescent childbearing makes it increasingly difficult to attain work experience, secondary or post-secondary education, and thus economic security.23 Third, only comprehensive sexuality education programs explain how women can protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases if they become sexually active. Adolescent women between the ages of 15 and 19 have the highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia compared to any other age/sex group.24 Comprehensive sexuality education is necessary to help protect these women.
Comprehensive sexuality education has overwhelming support from the medical community. Over 140 national organizations support comprehensive sexuality education, including: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, National Education Association, National Medical Association, National School Boards Association, and Society for Adolescent Medicine.25 AAUW is in agreement with the American Medical Association that the schools should implement comprehensive, developmentally appropriate, medically accurate sexuality education programs as part of an overall health education program; such programs should include ample involvement from parents, health professionals, and other concerned members of the community.26
Legislation in Support of Comprehensive Sexuality Education
AAUW supports funding for comprehensive sexuality education programs that firmly separate church and state, are medically accurate and age appropriate, and provide choice in determining one’s reproductive life.AAUW’s advocacy for a woman’s right to safe, accessible, and comprehensive reproductive health care and information is an integral part of the organization’s effort to gain equity for women in education, at work, and in all aspects of their lives.
AAUW supports legislation that tackles several key issues, including providing funding to states to provide comprehensive sexuality education and increasing funding for federal programs that provide grants for basic family planning and reproductive health care services.
AAUW believes that policymakers who consider themselves “pro-choice” or “pro-life” can feel comfortable supporting this practical measure because it is an issue of health care and accurate medical information. Abstinence-only sex education has not proven effective at preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Furthermore, the decline in teen pregnancies between 1991 and 2002 led to fewer women and children living in poverty than if the decline had not taken place.27 As a result, for all these reasons, AAUW supports comprehensive sexuality education programs.
Conclusion
At a time when minors’ rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases threaten the lives and livelihoods of women and girls, it is short-sighted to withhold medically accurate and comprehensive information from young people. AAUW believes individuals should have complete and accurate information about their reproductive health and family planning options. Only with complete reproductive health information can young people make informed and appropriate decisions.
For more information, call 202/785-7793 or e-mail VoterEd@aauw.org.
AAUW Public Policy and Government Relations Department
January 2008
1American Association of University Women. (August 2007). 2007-09 AAUW Public Policy Program. Retrieved December 6, 2007, from http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/upload/2007-09-PPP-brochure.pdf.
2 National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2004). Teen Birth Rates: How Does the United States Compare? Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/inatl_comparisons2006.pdf.
3 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health, The National Women's Health Information Center. (May 2005).Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Overview. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.4woman.gov/faq/stdsgen.htm.
4 The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI). (December 2006). In Brief: Facts on Sex Education in the United States. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_sexEd2006.html.
5 Family Research Council. (February 14, 2006). Talking Points on Abstinence Until Marriage Education. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IF06B01.
6 Kirby, Douglas. (2007). Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/EA2007/EA2007_sum.pdf.
7 Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (2007). Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Education Programs. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/impactabstinence.pdf.
8 Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States. (2007). No More Money for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.nomoremoney.org/history.html.
9 Kirby, Douglas. (2007). Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/EA2007/EA2007_sum.pdf.
10 Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States. “No More Money for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs.” (2005). Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.nomoremoney.org/reality.html.
11 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform — Minority Staff Special Investigations Division. (December 2004). The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs, prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20041201102153-50247.pdf.
12 Kirby, Douglas. (2007). Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/EA2007/EA2007_sum.pdf.
13 National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. (2007). Family Planning Facts. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.nfprha.org/main/family_planning.cfm?Category=Main&Section=Main.
14 Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. (August 2005). In Their Own Words: What Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Say. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.siecus.org/policy/in_their_own_words.pdf.
15 Boonstra, Heather. (February 2002). Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. Teen Pregnancy: Trends and Lessons Learned. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/05/1/gr050107.pdf.
16 American Civil Liberties Union. (August 2007). Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Censor Vital Health Care Information. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.aclu.org/reproductiverights/sexed/12670res20070822.html.
17 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform — Minority Staff Special Investigations Division. (December 2004). The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs, prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20041201102153-50247.pdf.
18 Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. (August 2005). In Their Own Words: What Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Say. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.siecus.org/policy/in_their_own_words.pdf.
19 NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation. (October 2007). Abstinence-Only Programs: Ideology over Science. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/assets/files/Sex-Ed-Ab-Only-Ideology.pdf.
20 Government Accountability Office. (October 2006). Abstinence Education: Efforts to Assess the Accuracy of and Effectiveness of Federally Funded Programs. GAO Highlights, GAO-07-87. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0787.pdf.
21 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (December 5, 2007). Births: Preliminary Data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports, 56(7). Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_07.pdf.
22 The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2005). The ‘What If’ Project. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.teenpregnancy.org/whycare/pdf/National_Press_Release.pdf.
23 Klein, Jonathan D. and the Committee on Adolescence. (2005). Adolescent Pregnancy: Current Trends and Issues. Pediatrics, 116, 281-286. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/116/1/281.pdf.
24 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2007). Trends in Reportable Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the United States, 2006. Retrieved on December 18, 2007, from http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/pdf/trends2006.pdf.
25 Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States. (2007). The National Coalition to Support Sexuality Education Coalition Members. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.siecus.org/pubs/fact/fact0005.html. National Education Association. (2007). NEA 2007-2008 Resolutions, B-47 Sex Education. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.nea.org/annualmeeting/raaction/images/2007-2008Resolutions.pdf. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Our Mission. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/about-us/our-mission.aspx.
26 American Medical Association. Sexuality Education, Abstinence, and Distribution of Condoms in Schools, H-170.968. Retrieved December 19, 2007, from http://www.ama-assn.org/apps/pf_new/pf_online?f_n=browse&doc=policyfiles/HnE/H-170.968.HTM.
27 The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2005). The What If? Project, Table 3. Retrieved November 19, 2007, fromhttp://www.teenpregnancy.org/whycare/pdf/tab3.pdf
