Abstinence Provision Threatens Welfare Bill

As the welfare debate shifts to the Senate this month, some lawmakers and family planning groups are battling a controversial provision in the House measure that would provide millions of dollars to states to run "abstinence only" programs. "We all agree that teens should postpone sex out of their teen years," said Judith DeSarno, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. "But to spend up to half a billion on not getting good information and, in fact, telling teens that contraception doesn't work I think is a criminally dangerous policy."

DeSarno's group and many Democrats argue that states should have the flexibility to offer information about abstinence as well as contraceptives since more older teens are having sex. In the current bill passed by the House, $50 million over five years would be set aside for states to run programs that focus only on abstinence. For every $4 spent in federal money, states would put up $3. Officials could answer questions about contraceptives, but it could not be part of the curriculum.

Republicans and Bush administration officials argue that some abstinence programs have proved effective in reducing teen birth rates and that they are the only certain way to avoid unintended pregnancies and STDs.

Family planning groups acknowledge it will be tough to delete the abstinence-only provision in the Senate, so instead they propose changing the language. Some senators "have not bought into what the House did on this front," said Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) would include $100 million a year over five years for teen pregnancy prevention in his welfare bill. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is a co-sponsor of the Bayh bill.

Back to other CDC news for June 3, 2002

Previous Updates