The Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program

Written by Hannah Gross

In 1981, President Reagan signed Title XX of the Public Health Service Act into law, also known as The Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA), providing government funding for abstinence education. AFLA was passed without any hearings or floor votes in Congress. In 1996, The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act (TANF) added Title V, Section 510(b) to the Social Security Act, which made the “exclusive purpose” of pregnancy prevention programs to promote abstinence outside of marriage. Title V, Section 510(b) also included a new federal definition of “abstinence education,” shown in the table below. In order for a program to receive the abstinence-only-until-marriage funds they must adhere to this new definition of abstinence education. Since abstinence is the “exclusive purpose” of these programs, alternative methods of contraception cannot be discussed or advocated for. This new definition reflects the values of the ultraconservative members of Congress.

The Federal Definition of Abstinence-Only Education

An eligible abstinence education program is one that:

a) has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;

b) teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school-age children;

c) teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;

d) teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity;

e) teaches that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;

f) teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;

g) teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increase vulnerability to sexual advances; and 

h) teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.

Originally, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administered this program, but in 2005, the George W. Bush administration gave the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) control over the program. The ACF was more conservative at the time and in Fiscal Year 2007 they issued more restrictive program guidance regarding the different elements of the abstinence education definition. The Fiscal Year 2007 guidance also stated that Title V-funded programs should focus on persons between the ages of 12-29. Since the National Center for Health Statistics has found that over 90% of people ages 20 to 29 have had sexual intercourse, and the present median age of sexual initiation is 17, this guidance makes little sense.

The government has allocated over $1.5 billion for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs since 1996, even though there is substantial evidence that they are ineffective. The findings of a 2007 congressionally mandated study determined that the Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have no beneficial impact on young people’s sexual behavior. There is no evidence that these programs result in their intended outcomes, such as delays in sexual activity and reductions in Sexually Transmitted Infections and unintended pregnancies.

Earlier this month Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representative Barbara Lee introduced the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2010 (HR 6283/S3878). This bill would repeal the funding for Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. I urge you to take action and contact your senators and representatives and request that they co-sponsor the bill. You can do so by completing this form:

Request form

References
De-Fund Abstinence-Only Programs. (n.d.). Advocates For Youth. Retrieved October 4, 2010, from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=849&Itemid=450

 State by State Decisions: The Personal Responsibility Education Program and Title V Abstinence-Only Program. (n.d.). SEICUS. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=1272

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