White House responds to controversy over Obama’s proposal to end abstinence funding

Controversy swirled after President Obama proposed a budget for 2010 that would eliminate federal funding for abstinence education programs in public schools, replacing them with so-called comprehensive sex education programs that promote the use of condoms and other contraceptives among the nation’s teenagers.

Under the plan, released May 7, Obama would cut more than $100 million in spending on abstinence-only education and create a new $110 million “teen pregnancy prevention initiative.” Another $50 million would be directed to states for pregnancy prevention programs that rely on condoms.

“The budget increases overall funding for teenage pregnancy prevention, which may include education on abstinence, and supports programs based on research,” a statement from the White House said. “In the budget, 75 percent of funding in a new teenage pregnancy prevention program will be directed to programs that have demonstrated by rigorous research to prevent teen pregnancy. The rest of the funds will be directed to promising, but not yet proven, programs for which we have some indication that they achieve the goal of teen pregnancy prevention. Those programs would have to agree to participate in a rigorous evaluation and abstinence-only programs could qualify.”

Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, wondered if the statement means the Obama administration supports abstinence education if there is proof of effectiveness.

“Similarly, are they saying that they do not approve comprehensive sex education if there is not compelling proof of effectiveness?” Huber said.

If the bottom line really is that the administration wants to fund what works and what has promise of working to curb teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, then it doesn’t make sense to cut abstinence education funding streams as proposed in the 2010 budget, she said.

“Also, by their making an overreaching, I think, decision to cut all abstinence programs, they are telling the 2.5 million students who are receiving those services that it’s not important that those services continue,” Huber said.

Huber urges concerned individuals to visit a Web site hosted by NAEA, www.abstinenceworks.org, for statistics and other information that they can share with their local school board members and policy makers.

Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.