A Flawed and Failed Policy: Abstinence-Only Programs
In order to "support a strong system of public education that promotes gender fairness;" "advocate adequate and equitable funding for quality public education for all students;" protect "programs that meet the needs of girls in elementary and secondary education," and guarantee "the separation of church and state" as well as "choice in the determination of one's reproductive life," all of which are principles of the American Association of University Women's 2009-2011 Public Policy Program,1 AAUW opposes federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs.
AAUW supports the right of every woman to obtain medically accurate information about and access to safe and comprehensive reproductive health services. AAUW opposes federally funded programs that limit young people's information and choices by promoting only abstinence. Abstinence-only programs censor information on contraception, pregnancy prevention, and sexually transmitted infections. Because the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy2 and sexually transmitted infection in the developed world,3 AAUW supports comprehensive sexuality education or "abstinence plus" programs that include information about both abstinence and contraception. Such programs are critical in helping to combat teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
For more information, call 202/785-7793 or e-mail VoterEd@aauw.org.
AAUW Public Policy and Government Relations Department
1 American Association of University Women. (June 2009). 2009-11 AAUW Public Policy Program. Retrieved July 9, 2009, from http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/principles_priorities.cfm.
2 Will Dunham. Teen Births Tilt Up, Unmarried Rate Hits Record. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0561785120071205.
3 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health, The National Women's Health Information Center. (May 2005). Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Overview. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.4woman.gov/faq/stdsgen.htm.
