Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

June 27, 2008

ISSUE: More states rejecting abstinence grants.

It is no great surprise that states are having doubts about the effectiveness of federal abstinence education programs.

What is surprising — in a positive way that hopefully will cause meaningful change — is that more states are saying, "No, thank you" to the federal government and saving their own matching money for other needs. According to the Associated Press, almost half the states are now telling the Bush administration to keep their grant money that goes to abstinence programs for teens.

Florida is among the top participants, still, in the $50 million federal program (Florida has received $1.9 million in federal grants this year). But many states are smartly saying forget it, partly because they have realistic doubts about the effectiveness of abstinence education, and partly because they have to put in some state money to get federal grants for a program that, in truth, has failed.

Birth rates for teenagers age 15 to 17 increased by 3 percent between 2005-2006, the first increase since 1991. Yet, since 1996, the federal government has spent more than $1 billion on "abstinence until marriage" programs, according to The Christian Science Monitor. More and more states are finally seeing the folly in all of this, with Arizona and Iowa the latest to say they will forgo their share of the federal grant money.

Nobody can question that abstinence is the only foolproof way to prevent pregnancy. And it makes sense to counsel abstinence as part of a comprehensive sex education program. But teenagers obviously need to learn more about birth control and contraceptives. They need to learn about the consequences of their choices, and they need to learn how to talk to their parents about these kinds of issues.

Just telling teenagers not to do it obviously isn't working. More states are getting wise to that. So should the federal government.

BOTTOM LINE: Comprehensive programs should deal with birth control options.