Abstinence Programs Waste Taxpayer Money

The nation's teen birth rate has risen for the first time in 14 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in a new report. The birth rate had been dropping since 1991, but it jumped 3 percent from 2005 to 2006!

The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed nation. Yet federal funding is increasing for dangerous abstinence-only education programs, which every study has shown to be ineffective and do nothing to prevent unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. One hundred million dollars is spent annually in the United States ($900,000 in Hawaii) on these programs that deny teenagers information to prevent pregnancy or protect their health.

Our youth need comprehensive, medically accurate information about abstinence, contraception, prevention of STIs, communication and responsible decision making. Planned Parenthood of Hawaii has introduced legislation for many years requiring sexuality education in public schools to be medically accurate and age appropriate. It failed to pass.

It's time to put our money toward real solutions. Virginia just became the 14th state to reject federal funding for abstinence-only programs because they just don't work. Gov. Linda Lingle should make Hawaii the 15th state to reject federal funds for the dangerous and ineffective abstinence-only sex education programs.

http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/09/editorial/letters.html