Abstinence Group Loses Federal Grant Over 1st Amendment

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reached a settlement with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that cuts federal funds to Silver Ring Thing. The Moon, Pa.-based abstinence education organization received more than $1 million in federal funding over the past three years. SRT, which provides a silver ring to youths who pledge to remain abstinent until marriage, lost $75,000 as part of the settlement.

In May, ACLU filed suit in US District Court in Boston charging that public tax money was being used for SRT programming that was primarily religious. SRT's lack of a secular component to its activities, said ACLU, violated federal faith-based organization standards and the First Amendment.

In August, HHS suspended SRT's funding. In a letter to SRT founder Denny Pattyn, HHS said that the group may not be correctly separating its secular and religious activities. Under the settlement, SRT is not eligible for government funding if the money used serves religious purposes.

SRT employees could not be reached Thursday. HHS officials did not respond to requests for comment. ACLU does not object to religious programs, said Barb Feige, director of ACLU-Pittsburgh. "Anybody can do their own religious programming for their own religions, but you can't do it with government funds," she said. "That's a constitutional violation."

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