Randy Hultgren (R-IL 14th) has introduced the Abstinence Education Reallocation Act (H.R. 2874), which would restore funding for sexual risk avoidance education. The bill provides for grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities to provide qualified sexual risk avoidance education to youth and their parents. To qualify for funding, sexual risk avoidance education must be age appropriate, medically accurate, use an evidence-based approach, have as its sole purpose teaching of the skills and benefits of sexual abstinence as the optimal sexual health behavior for youth and include the following:
(A) The holistic health, economic, and societal benefits that can be gained by refraining from nonmarital sexual activity, through teaching practical skills that promote self-regulation, goal setting, and a focus on the future.
(B) The clear advantage of reserving human sexual activity for marriage, as a key contributing factor in the prevention of poverty and the preservation of physical and emotional health, based on social science research.
(C) The foundational components of a healthy relationship and related research regarding the individual, economic, and societal advantages of bearing children within the context of a committed marital relationship in order to form healthy marriages and safe and stable families.
(D) The skills needed to resist the negative influences of the pervasive sex-saturated culture that presents teenage sexual activity as an expected norm, with few risks or negative consequences.
(E) The understanding of how drugs, alcohol, and the irresponsible use of social media can negatively influence healthy sexual decision making and can contribute to aggressive sexual behavior.
(F) A focused priority on the superior health benefits of sexual abstinence, ensuring that any information provided on contraception does not exaggerate its effectiveness in preventing sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies.
Valerie Huber, Executive Director, National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA): "This bill re-establishes a federal priority on sexual risk avoidance (SRA), an approach that offers the best sexual health outcomes for young people. While NAEA believes sex education should primarily be between parents and their children and then between physician and patient, we acknowledge that the federal government will continue to have a role in sex education in the schools and community."Research confirms that the abstinence-centered risk avoidance message is effective. Twenty-two studies point to positive behavioral change from students who are part of a successful abstinent program. Abstinent teens are more likely to remain abstinent. When sexually experienced teens are part of an abstinence program, they have fewer partners, are no less likely to use a condom and are more likely to discontinue their sex activity.
"Over the last decade, condom usage among teens has increased, yet so has the infectivity rate of STDs among teens. Continuing to spend more money for contraceptive-centered sex education will not adequately address the problem because two of the most prevalent STDs (HSV and HPV) can be spread even with the use of a condom. Congress needs to hear from medical professionals who deeply care about the health futures of youth. Members of Congress should be encouraged to cosponsor H.R. 2874, which redirects existing funding to sexual risk avoidance education. We applaud Rep. Hultgren's leadership in introducing H.R. 2874. Changing sex education policy requires significant cosponsorship of this legislation."
Look for action item with this story.
Use the pre-written note at the CMA Freedom2Care legislative action center to urge your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 2874 - Abstinence Education Reallocation Act of 2011.Resources
CMA joins push to restore abstinence education funding
Coalition Letter Regarding Abstinence Education Hearing
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