For Immediate Release
July 17, 2007
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Press Contacts:
Noel Alicea office: 212 367 1216 / cell: 917 583 6657
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GMHC DECRIES INCREASED FEDERAL FUNDING
FOR HARMFUL ABSTINENCE-ONLY EDUCATION PROGRAMS
New York, NY — This week, the House of Representatives is set to vote on an appropriations bill that includes $141 million for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs—an unprecedented $27.8 million increase for this wasteful program. Democratic leaders in the Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education have caved under conservative ideological pressures and enriched abstinence-only and anti-choice groups at the expense of sound public health policy for America's youth.
"Abstinence-only programs are not only ineffective; they are actually harmful in the messages they convey to youth," said Marjorie J. Hill, Ph.D. "Programs that call for abstinence until marriage promote sexist gender-based stereotypes about women and men and their roles in sex and relationships. They also promote an anti-gay bias, insisting that the only proper place for sex is within the context of heterosexual marriage, and that AIDS is the inevitable result of homosexuality. We urge the House to support public health that protects the health of our nation's youth and to reject bigotry and ignorance."
Since 1996, the federal government has spent over a billion taxpayer dollars on abstinence-only programs, despite numerous federal, state and independent evaluations showing the programs to be counterproductive and fiscally wasteful. The Institute of Medicine issued a scathing Congressionally-mandated report on abstinence-only programs in 2000. A 2006 study by the independent Society for Adolescent Medicine called the programs "scientifically and ethically flawed" and found that the "efficacy of abstinence-only interventions may approach zero."
Twenty-three percent (23%) of U.S. school districts run abstinence-only programs, according to the Guttmacher Institute. These programs have been shown to be completely ineffective in increasing abstinence among teenagers; in fact, the rate of sexually transmitted infections and HIV has increased among youth since these programs were implemented, with 4 million young people in the U.S. contracting sexually-transmitted diseases each year.
Almost half (47%) of high school students in the United States report being sexually active. Youth who have participated in abstinence-only programs and have pledged to save their virginity until marriage are just as likely to have sex as their peers. Those who participate in abstinence-only programs, however, are one-third less likely than their peers to use contraception when they do become sexually active.
Abstinence-only programs prohibit discussions concerning contraception or condoms, except to distort their failure rates, which means that youth are being uninformed and misled about effectively protecting themselves from unplanned pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Considering that young people ages 15-24 account for almost half of all new HIV infections reported in the United States each year, these programs put our youth in serious danger.
Gay Men's Health Crisis urges the House leadership to oppose using additional taxpayer dollars for harmful, counterproductive and wasteful abstinence-only programs.
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Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. Our mission is to reduce the spread of HIV disease, help people with HIV maintain and improve their health and independence, and keep the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV an urgent national and local priority. In fulfilling this mission, we will remain true to our heritage by fighting homophobia and affirming the individual dignity of all gay men and lesbians. We provide services and programs to over 15,000 men, women and families that are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in New York City, and outreach and education to hundreds of thousands throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.gmhc.org.
© 2007 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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