Settlement to Keep Religion out of Louisiana's Abstinence Program

Under a settlement worked out with the American Civil Liberties Union, Louisiana's taxpayer-funded program promoting sexual abstinence for young people will be monitored more closely to make sure none of its money is used to promote religion.

In July, US District Judge Thomas Porteous Jr. found that some grants from the Governor's Program on Abstinence were being used by recipients to promote religion. He issued an order that the program stop funding people or groups that convey religious messages or advance religion with GPA funds. That order was on appeal at the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals; the settlement, dated Nov. 6, ends the lawsuit.

In the settlement, the state agreed that recipients of GPA funds will be required to submit monthly reports certifying that the money was not used for religious activities. Also, GPA officials will conduct quarterly reviews of funded programs, and those violating the ban will not have their GPA funding renewed. The GPA's Web site, promotional materials and requests for proposals will include a message stating that GPA funds cannot be used to promote religion.

The ACLU lawsuit, filed in May, did not seek to end abstinence education in Louisiana, but did seek a judge's order prohibiting money from being spent to promote religion. Porteous' July ruling included examples of blatantly religious references in GPA-funded material. In June, GPA Director Dan Richey and program lawyers said there was no need for a court order prohibiting such spending because the program had stopped funding the groups in question. Money for the governor's program comes from the federal government under an abstinence-only education program approved as part of 1996 welfare legislation.

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