Obama’s budget eliminates funding for abstinence education programs.
By on May 7th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Obama’s budget eliminates funding for abstinence education programs.
Keeping with a campaign pledge “not continue to fund abstinence-only programs,” President Obama’s 2010 budget — further details of which were released today — cuts funding for “Community-Based Abstinence Education” and several other abstinence-education programs (p. 491):
Indeed, abstinence programs have been shown time and again to be unsuccessful in preventing teen pregnancies. (HT: Ben Smith)
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Outstanding – why throw good money away? All the studies show that abstinence does not work.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:50 pm*
Good. This is going to make the neocons and Christian Right batshit crazy.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:50 pmPerhaps Palin can hold a telethon for her pet project ???
Even though I morally hold that teens should not have sex (look how it can alter your life choices), I’ll admit the practicality that teens are gonna have sex.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:52 pmGood riddance.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:52 pmGood. Now we won’t have schools claiming they can only teach abstinence-only for monetary reasons.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:53 pmYES! I know the religious wingnuts will be raving mad but so what! Now the money can be used for real programs that work. Teens have no business having kids. Hopefully, this will prevent more unwanted pregnancies.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:53 pmWell done!! It’s about time!!
May 7th, 2009 at 5:54 pmGood news. Most of us can remember being horny little teenagers. No class telling teenagers is going to stop them from being horny and doing it.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:54 pmI think we can thank the Palin family’s evidence for this…
May 7th, 2009 at 5:55 pmOoooh, Bristol’s going to be pissed.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:56 pmDon’t believe you lying eyes. Bristol Palin knows better, just ask Levi.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:56 pmMapleStreet Says
May 7th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Even though I morally hold that teens should not have sex (look how it can alter your life choices), I’ll admit the practicality that teens are gonna have sex.
_________________________________________________________
I agree. It would please me no end if teens would wait. But since they don’t, I would prefer that those who can’t say no to sex be armed with accurate information about condoms instead of scary myths.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:57 pmHow is the right going to recruit new voters without teenage trailer trash having all those unplanned pregnancies?
May 7th, 2009 at 5:57 pmAre “Abstinence education programs” actually Abstinence ONLY programs?
I can’t believe that Abstinence isn’t being recommended in ALL sex education Programs….along with other necessary information.
I just hope Obama doesn’t let the Religious right Accuse him of Being Against Abstinence. He’s against Abstinence ONLY.
And whatever will the rightwingers say, if the Number of Abortions actually GOES DOWN under Obama’s Presidency??
May 7th, 2009 at 5:57 pmDon’t believe your lying eyes.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:57 pmBristol Palin knows better, just ask Levi.
MOD: Am I being moderated here, too?
May 7th, 2009 at 5:57 pmObama’s budget eliminates funding for abstinence education programs.
– - It’s pretty scary when Levi Johnston is out front on the facts on a social issue.
May 7th, 2009 at 5:58 pmdoes this mean i won’t be able to find abstinence pants at the local walmart store? the pants with pat robertson’s face on the crotch?
dammit!
May 7th, 2009 at 5:59 pmAbstinence Education is not sex education.
Give teens the facts, explain choices and consequences and let them make their own decisions – all the abstinence talk in the world isn’t going to stop teens from having sex.
And if faith-based groups want to teach abstinence, let them do it on their own dime.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:04 pmThis policy was instituted during the Bush administration when Bush would do just about anything to keep the infantile and ignorant religious loons happy. While those of faith are an important constituency for democrats — the religious loons are not. Obama does not need to try to pacify idiots with stupid stuff like this.
Every study shows abstinence does not work. It is time for it to go.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:04 pm*
Trittydi Says:
——————————————————————————–
Outstanding – why throw good money away? All the studies show that abstinence does not work.
**************************************************************
Brilliant statement. Abstinence does not work? So I guess these teen-age girls are getting pregnant without having sex?
My favorite line is the “all the studies show” part. So true!! All the studies show that abstinence from sex does not prevent pregnancies !!!
And all this time I thought sexual intercourse had something to do with pregnancies. Thank goodness that I’ve been straightened out by the brilliant posters on TP !!
May 7th, 2009 at 6:08 pmwe’re almost there, but not quite- let your Congressperson know that we don’t want them to sneak ab-only funding back in!
send them that massage here
May 7th, 2009 at 6:09 pmTo Trittydi,
Abstinence does work for those who choose to be abstinent. The thing that does not work is abstinence-only education.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:17 pmAbstinence does work if the individual is ready to make a conscious effort to hold off personal sexual urges, ignore all of the sexual imagery used in popular culture, and make wise life choices when faced with peer pressure.
Abstinence education doesn’t do everything to establish abstinence in an individual. You’d have to leash the individual in Puritan practices to even have a remote chance at that.
Good choice on the Obama Administration’s part.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:19 pmTrittydi probably meant to type abstinence-only. Way to rejoice in a typo, Derek Nettles!
How about you refuting the studies in the non-typo-ed links provided above, smart guy.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:23 pmGreat Frybread King Says:
——————————————————————————–
Good. This is going to make the neocons and Christian Right batshit crazy.
————————————————————–
No worry. It is a short drive.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:30 pmThis decision should also result in a decrease in STD transmission. Under Clinton, new cases of STDs had leveled off
and began to fall. They started rising again under W.
When a teen is given abstinence only education, they fail to learn condom use, and when they inevitably have sex, are more likely to be unprotected.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:42 pmBrilliant! Watch the GOoPers scream about their pet “culture war” programs getting cut.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:43 pmNot only doesn’t abstinence not work the whole charade leads to higher STDs because it preaches lies about condoms, etc. Good riddance to bad science.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:59 pmWhoever’s keeping score can check off yet another fulfilled promise. Happy day. ^_^
May 7th, 2009 at 7:06 pmIf God or nature had meant for abstinence to work, young adults would not have the glandular urges they were born with. Fact. Deal with it.
May 7th, 2009 at 7:07 pmNo one is stopping the fundies from continuing to abstain. And nothing is stopping us from calling them hypocrites when they don’t.
May 7th, 2009 at 7:53 pmTrittydi,
May 7th, 2009 at 8:01 pmI don’t mind spending money and getting results. The approach may sound good but the results are proof the approach didn’t work. Good government is practical government.
At last we have people in charge of the country that believe in science………and not fairy tales. Besides the polls that prove abstinence does not work, we now have Miss Palin and her father all over the TV machine showing off her little illegitamite one and touting abstinence……now, isn’t that an oxymoron?
May 7th, 2009 at 8:21 pmThank God– since studies show abstinence-only teens are not only just as likely to have sex, but even more likely to avoid condoms, thereby more likely to get pregnant or contracts STDs.
May 7th, 2009 at 8:40 pmLet them screech. It’s not the fault of reasonable people that some insist on confusing “promoting abstinence and safe sex” and “abstinence only”. They can’t seem to realize the fact that all sex education promotes abstinence first.
May 7th, 2009 at 8:41 pmConservativeForProgress:
You win two prizes today!
-Most Oxymoronic Name
And!
-Most Moronic Comment!
Hooray for you! A twofer!
If you had bothered to read the story, you might have noticed that the funding was stopped for abstinence ONLY programs.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:13 pmEVERY sex ed class encourages abstinence and also encourages safe sex.
Dipshit!
…
trolls.
we’re losing our trolls.
and it’s kind of sad.
:(
May 7th, 2009 at 9:20 pmConservativeForProgress Says:
Well we certainly don’t want to be teaching our teens to abstain from sex. That could lead to less abortions, now couldn’t it?
***
s/b “now wouldn’t it?”
**
another child left behind.
:(
May 7th, 2009 at 9:23 pmAccording to the Wall St. Journal, the budget eliminated “most federal funding for abstinence-only sex-education programs” but not all:
“Budget Widens Teen-Pregnancy-Prevention Efforts” (WSJ)
May 7th, 2009 at 10:23 pmMy only question is the headline? It states “Obama’s budget eliminates funding for abstinence education programs.” Now does it mean he is eliminating funding for ALL abstinence education…or for “abstinence only education?” I copied and pasted this sentence from the header up above….
“Obama’s budget eliminates funding for abstinence education programs”
it could be interpreted 2 ways as you can see?
I think all sexual education must fully include both the latest science as well as a strong message that waiting is a more healthy choice? To say “kids are going to do it anyways” is just ignorant but to also say “if we tell them not to do it…we are doing our jobs of helping them become fully informed”…. is just as ignorant!
JMHO
May 7th, 2009 at 10:32 pm“Trittydi Says:
May 7th, 2009 at 11:21 pmOutstanding – why throw good money away? All the studies show that abstinence does not work.”
Actually, it works every time it’s tried.
Slowly but surely we creep forward toward 1960. One little fix after another…..we are going to get our country back. Even if it is severly broken….stay strong….support progressive initiatives…..I am for “single payer heath”…you may be for another cause….no matter…be an activist…
May 8th, 2009 at 12:57 amI remember the 70`s quite fondly,we had to have a Civics class
May 8th, 2009 at 1:26 amand sex education and health to graduate.We need to go back to basics.
ConservativeForProgress Says:
Well we certainly don’t want to be teaching our teens to abstain from sex. That could lead to less abortions, now couldn’t it?
Ladies and Gentlemen. What we have here is a clear cut case of the classic oxymoron coming from a classic MORON.
FACT: Sex Ab Edu DOES NOT WORK. DEAL WITH IT MORON!
May 8th, 2009 at 1:45 amConservativeForProgress Says:
Well we certainly don’t want to be teaching our teens to abstain from sex. That could lead to less abortions, now couldn’t it?
May 7th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Actually, Abstinence Only ed has led to increased numbers of STDs and teen pregnancies.
I taught my own sons that sexual activity while still in their teens was not a good idea, since most teens are not mature enough to handle such relationships, but I also taught them about responsibility, sex, and birth control — because I live in the real world, and remember what it was like to be a teenager.
Only morons like you would actually think we find joy in abortion. I guess that would equate to accusing YOU of celebrating STDs and unwanted pregnancy as a “punishment” for having sex.
May 8th, 2009 at 1:57 amI hope I am wrong but it does not look to me that the Obama budget eliminates AO education at all. Has anyone actually READ what the HHS budget says. Yes it does eliminate discretionary and mandatory abstinance programs that total $133 million, but it replaces them with a new program called Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants with funding of $110 million. You can see it about midway down the column on the right side of Page 490. Now read the text on the left at the top on page 490, just below the Help America Vote Act, starting with “Provided further that [$94,659,000} $110,000 shall be………” What is your interpretation of what it says? To me it explicitly supports AO education with this: “That grants under the immediately preceding proviso shall be made only to public and private entities which agree that, with respect to an adolescent to whom the entities provide abstinence education under such grants, the entities will not provide to that adolescent any other education regarding sexual conduct, except that, in the case of an entity expressly required by law…..” So I ask, has Obama actually eliminated AO education or just kept it under a new program?
May 8th, 2009 at 9:38 amDoes “abstinence education” mean “abstinence ONLY education”? If *not*, then this seems bad: what’s so bad about mentioning abstinence _as an option_? Ultimately you can’t force morality (well it’s not good to do it), but you shouldn’t leave out options either. Including abstinence as an option is NOT the same thing as abstinence-ONLY ed.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:19 pmJust don’t be silly! Put a condom in your willy!
May 8th, 2009 at 3:33 pmTo the people obsessed with the typos (like CFP up there):
Is that really the best you can do? You can’t refute the endless studies that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that AO education as opposed to comprehensive sex education doesn’t prevent teen sex, and increases STD infection and teen pregnancy, so you harp on a clear typo.
If this is the best job that you can do making an argument, and if this type of criticism is all you can come up with (clearly it is, and all issues you people seem to raise at this point are just as idiotic and pointless), then you should go ahead and congratulate the Democratic Party for their permenant majority, and we’ll go ahead and thank you for giving it to us.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:16 pmObama should appoint Sarah Palin to head the reformed sex education program.
May 9th, 2009 at 3:48 amPopatop Says:
Actually, it doesn’t work every time it is tried. It works every time it is actually done, but many people who try abstinence fail to actually remain abstinent.
May 9th, 2009 at 9:53 amIt’s up to the parents to educate, not religious groups or schools. Time to grow a pair America.
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Abstinence programs work 100% for those who listen. Sure its few (sex feels great) but the money is worth it compared to all the single mother programs and the drag in social programs spent for those who do not listen. Both need to be taught. Have safe sex or dont do it.
May 13th, 2009 at 9:12 am