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BY JON CRAIG
(Cincinnati) Enquirer
COLUMBUS - Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed $53 billion budget eliminates an abstinence-only sex-education program.
Removal of $1 million in state aid over two years marks a shift in Ohio support for abstinence-only programs, which advocates call a national model.
The federally subsidized program encourages schoolchildren to abstain from sex until they're married.
Strickland said he thinks abstinence programs don't work well in the long run and does not plan to apply for federal money after current funding ends Sept. 30.
"The governor believes that, considering the very challenging budget environment we find ourselves in, that this is an unwise use of tax dollars because there is no conclusive evidence that suggests the program works," Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said.
Strickland has proposed other child programs, including pre-kindergarten and all-day kindergarten, which would help children start off better in school, Dailey said.
The governor could be headed toward a legislative showdown during budget hearings, state Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, said.
"If you eliminate abstinence-only, what does he propose to replace it with?" Seitz asked.
"I think it would be rough sledding to substitute an abstinence-only program that is working to some degree with a free-condoms-for-everybody program that would be quite controversial."
Carole Adlard, director of Cincinnati-based Healthy Visions, said, "It's very easy to say it doesn't work when (Strickland) doesn't have anything to support it."
Adlard said births to teenage girls in Cincinnati fell by 51 percent from 1993's 391 to 2005, when there were 193.
"When you've got independent people coming back and saying this is the impact it's had ... that's not feelings, it's statistics," Adlard said.
"You can't argue with numbers."
Healthy Visions is one of four providers of abstinence education to about 25,000 students in 43 school districts in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties.
Ken Blackwell, the former Cincinnati mayor whom Strickland defeated for governor last year, stressed the importance of abstinence-only education Thursday before a speech about marriage.
"Unless you're totally giving up on character development of our young people, abstinence education is a must," Blackwell said. "I believe that young people of character can overtake instincts to engage in premarital sex."
Blackwell would not discuss specifics of Strickland's first budget plan but said the governor is "abandoning our young people. . . . He's not just abandoning programs. He's abandoning our youth."
Blackwell now works as a fellow with the Buckeye Institute in Columbus and Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.
Ohio abstinence groups have received $23.7 million in federal dollars in the past three years, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. The state has contributed $500,000 a year, in addition to running programs through the Governor's Office on Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
Statewide, teen pregnancy rates have dropped from 42.3 pregnancies for every 1,000 females ages 10 to 19 in 1997 to 33.1 in 2005.
Under a 1999 Ohio law, public schools must stress in health courses that abstinence is the only surefire way to prevent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. But the programs have increasingly come under fire. A U.S. General Accounting Office report last fall said little oversight or analysis is done to see that federally funded abstinence programs are effective.
The Associated Press contributed.
this article does not discuss the issues that even usa today cited in the half a sentence about it in the "news from every state" section.
Akron Beacon Journal
Governor's budget would end abstinence-only dollars
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed budget strips funding for programs that focus on teaching schoolchildren abstinence from sex until they're married.
The removal of $1 million in state aid to abstinence-only education marks a shift in state support for programs that advocates say serve as a national model.
The administration says it also has no plans to apply for federal money for the programs after the current funding ends Sept. 30.
"Quite frankly, I don't believe abstinence-only education programs work in the long run," Strickland told the Dayton Daily News. "There is some evidence that they may delay the onset of sexual activity, but over the long term there's not data there that show they prevent, in a statistical sense, sexual activity outside of marriage."
The governor could be headed toward a legislative showdown on the matter.
"That's one where he's likely to find a lot of legislative opposition to what he's trying to do," said State Rep. Jay Hottinger, a member of the majority Republican caucus.
Ohio abstinence groups have received $23.7 million in federal dollars over the last three years, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. The state has contributed $500,000 a year, in addition to running programs through the Gov.'s Office on Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
"It's a significant and important shift in policy," said Earl Pike, executive director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland and a critic of abstinence-only programs.
Rachel Sacksteder, education director at the nonprofit Elizabeth's New Life Center in Dayton, said her facility's anti-abortion, pro-abstinence message is showing results.
The center has used its $800,000 a year in federal funding to reach 23,000 youths in a six-county area. Sacksteder said teen pregnancy rates are dropping.
Statewide, teen pregnancy rates have dropped from 42.3 pregnancies for every 1,000 females ages 10 to 19 in 1997 to 33.1 in 2005.
"We do see students that have been able to change their lives," she said.
Under a 1999 Ohio law, public schools must stress in health courses that abstinence is the only surefire way to prevent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
Tai Hethcock, director of the Abstinence Resource Centre in Dayton, said that law has contributed to Ohio being a national leader in abstinence education.
But the programs have increasingly come under fire. A U.S. General Accounting Office report last fall said little oversight or analysis is done to see that federally funded abstinence programs are effective. And Case Western Reserve University report in 2005 blasted Ohio's abstinence-only classes as disseminating false information about contraceptives and abortion and representing religious views as fact.
"I believe in a comprehensive approach," Strickland said. "I think, obviously, abstinence should be a part of any education curriculum, but I think young people need to be educated in ways that can protect their health and their safety."
Ohio Governor and Pro-Life Advocates Square Off on Abstinence Funding
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 22, 2007
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) -- Ohio Governor Ted Strickland wants to cut out state funding for abstinence education -- a move that is drawing criticism from pro-life groups and legislators. The pro-abortion Democrat has proposed a new budge that entirely eliminates the $500,000 the state normally spends annually on encouraging kids to practice abstinence.
A spokesman for the governor says Strickland will not apply for any more federal funds for abstinence education for future budgets.
The Western Star newspaper carried a quote from the governor about his decision.
"Quite frankly, I don't believe abstinence-only education programs work in the long run," Strickland said.
"There is some evidence that they may delay the onset of sexual activity, but over the long term there's not data there that show they prevent, in a statistical sense, sexual activity outside of marriage," he claimed.
However, the governor's allegation doesn't square with the facts.
Abstinence education groups have spent $23.7 million in federal funds with $5 million of that going through the state health department. The state has been spending $500,000 annually to go along with those grants.
The money has paid dividends as teen pregnancy rates have been on the decline -- dropping from 42.3 pregnancies per 1,000 girls aged 10-19 in 1997 to 33.1 in 2005.
The programs have been helped by a 1999 state law requiring local school districts to adopt cirriculum promoting abstinence.
The Ohio state legislature will be considering the state budget in the next few months and pro-life lawmakers will likely try to insert the funding back into the budget.
Pro-life groups are already lining up to lobby state legislators to restore the money and Paula Westwood, the director of Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati, told LifeNews.com in an email that Ohio residents want abstinence funding.
She also says abstinence education programs work and help teenagers avoid various consequences.
"Young single women who engage in sexual activity outside marriage are most at-risk for pregnancies ending in abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, abuse by predatory men, and more," Westwood said.
Related web sites:
Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati -
Cincinnati Right to Life |
i remember when i was in high school. we were taught that condoms cannot protect you from stds at all because the pores in the latex are too large. this was, i suppose, supposed to keep us from having sex. it contributed to students having sex without condoms. why should a guy lose sensation after all if it doesn't actually do anything?
it is my opinion that abstinence is a vital part of a sex education program. not having sex is an easy way to ensure that you don't get pregnant. however, passing off lies and dogma as scientific fact is not only wrong, it's destructive. the only way to ensure that women don't get pregnant before they want to is to empower them. you can't empower them against men who want to put their penises in them by lying to them. if you want to reduce sexual abuse of women, you're not going to accomplish it by telling them to avoid sex befpre marriage. abuse isn't consentual. abuse happens against the wishes of women. abuse happens because people raise their sons to believe they are entitled to get into girls' pants for various reasons in various circumstances. if you want to reduce pregnancy, abuse, abortions, whatever without giving people condoms, start teaching boys that they are never entitled to anything from a girl and only receive any kind of sexual activity at the considered and unpressured discretion of a woman who has no responsibility whatsoever nor any obligation no matter what happens or is suggested or teased or anything else to provide that boy with any stimulation or satisfaction whatsoever. after thousands of years of women not owning their own vaginas, the only solution is for men to be taught that they have no claim over any woman's vagina ever.
not to mention that abstinence only programs only delay sexual activity by like 2 years and imcrease instances of oral, anal, and other alternative and "deviant" practices.
anyways. i digress.
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