ACLU settles suit over Silver Ring Thing program

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has agreed to stop funding an abstinence program that included religious elements.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced Feb. 23 that the settlement had been reached between its lawyers and federal officials in a case involving the Silver Ring Thing in Moon Township, Pa. According to the settlement, HHS officials have agreed not to fund the abstinence education program of Silver Ring Thing as it was structured under the terms of a 2005 grant. If the Silver Ring Thing applies for additional grants between now and 2008, those officials have agreed to ensure that funding is not used for “inherently religious activities.”

The suit filed by the ACLU last May said the government had awarded more than $1 million in grants to Silver Ring Thing over a three-year period. HHS’ Family and Youth Services Bureau suspended funding of the program in August 2005 after concluding that “it appears that the federal project that is funded under the SRT grant includes both secular and religious components that are not adequately separated.”  (TAB)