States rebel against sex-ed rules

States rebel against sex-ed rules
By P.J. Huffstutter, Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times; Tribune staff reporter Diane Rado in Chicago contributed to this report
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press
Published April 12, 2007

In an emerging revolt against abstinence-only sex education, states are turning down millions of dollars in federal grants, unwilling to accept White House dictates that the money be used for classes focused almost exclusively on teaching chastity.

In Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland said that regardless of the state's sluggish economic picture, he simply did not see the point in taking part in the controversial State Abstinence Education Grant program anymore.

Five other states -- Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Montana and New Jersey -- already have dropped the program or plan to do so by year's end. The program is managed by a unit of the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services.

Illinois accepts federal dollars for abstinence programs and has no plans to forgo the money, said Tom Green, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services.

The agency funds 29 programs around Illinois that get about $1.6 million in federal funds, he said. That figure excludes money from other sources that goes toward abstinence education in the state.

For example, the Glenview-based program Project Reality is receiving $1.2 million in state money to provide curriculum and training for abstinence programs statewide, said executive director Libby Macke. Other organizations apply directly to the federal government for program funding.

The programs have been criticized on a variety of fronts, but their defenders insist the programs can influence teens' behavior.

"We don't preach at them; we engage them in a dialogue and try to find out where they're at," said Barbara Singer, executive director of CareNet Pregnancy Services of DuPage, which does abstinence programs in 28 DuPage County schools. "Kids are out there and they are experimenting, and I think a lot parents don't know it. ... We're really trying to get them to consider having abstinence as an option as a lifestyle."

Most high schools in Illinois are teaching abstinence because they can get the money for those programs, said Steve Trombley, president of Planned Parenthood of Chicago.

"Cash-starved school districts are going with abstinence-only programs even though they don't necessarily believe in them," he said. "We get no government support for comprehensive [sex-education] programs whatsoever."

Ohio's Strickland, like most of the other governors who are pulling the plug on the funding, said last month that the program has too many restrictions and rules to be practical. Among other things, the money cannot be used to promote condom or contraceptive use, and requires teachers to emphasize ideas such as that bearing children outside wedlock is harmful to society and "likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects."

That states are walking away from such funding alarms abstinence-only groups, who insist that cutting off this source of revenue will close dozens of non-profit sex education groups -- and undermine the progress they have made to fight teen pregnancy and curtail the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

States have used the money to help public and private schools start and run educational programs, develop classroom instruction for non-profit groups, and pay for advertising and other media campaigns.

"There are kids who don't want to know how to put on a condom, because they don't want to have sex," said Leslee Unruh, president and chief executive of the South Dakota-based National Abstinence Clearinghouse, the nation's largest network of abstinence educators. "So why can't kids who want to abstain have equal time, funding and education in the classroom as kids who are having sex?"

White House support for the so-called Title V grant remains strong. President Bush has asked Congress to carve out $191 million for the program in fiscal 2008, an increase of $28 million over current funding.

- - -

What lawmakers want

Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation promoting comprehensive sex education instead of abstinence-only curricula. They want to send money to schools that emphasize abstinence while also instructing students about the health benefits and side effects of contraceptives.

Wade Horn, the Bush administration official who oversaw the two largest abstinence-education programs until he resigned last week, predicted lawmakers will give states more flexibility in determining how federal dollars are spent. He doesn't expect major funding cuts.

"I've seen some bills introduced by Democrats that suggest they want a separate fund dedicated to comprehensive sex education, but my sense is that it won't be at the expense of abstinence education," he said.