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Congress Renews Federal Funding for Abstinence Education

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

WASHINGTON, DC, October 7, 2008 (LifeSIteNews.com) - The U.S. Senate passed a bill Saturday that extends funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) through September 2009, reports citizenlink.com.

Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said this is good news for U.S. students.

"We are pleased that the abstinence-until-marriage funding remains in place through next September, but we understand that the work to keep the funding in place will continue with a new Congress," she said.

The development and implementation of CBAE programs to encourage teens to remain chaste has been singularly successful not only in combating the glamorous, but false, media messages about sex bombarding youth, but also gives teens a thorough understanding of the physical, emotional and financial consequences of sexual promiscuity.

An example of the abstinence programs developed with the CBAE funding is that created by Dr. Patricia Sulak, a practicing OB/GYN with Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic in central Texas, and implemented in the Westwood Independent School District by Living Alternatives pregnancy resource center of Palestine, Texas.

The program, titled "Worth the Wait," focuses on the real consequences of teen sexual promiscuity and speaks to teenaged students before they become sexually active.

Living Alternatives director Dana Morgan said during an interview with the Palestine Herald-Press (see: http://www.palestineherald.com/local/local_story_264230029.html), "The curriculum is conservative. It teaches that abstinence is the best choice in preventing teen pregnancy and STD's."

Topics covered in the program include: Emotional Needs, STD's and Other Facts, Puberty/Anatomy Review, Pregnancy, Sexual Limits and Goal Setting, Refusal Skills, Sex and the Law and Making Good Choices.

According to Morgan, parents are not being left out of the program. They are asked to be involved with their child through the use of "discussion worksheets" sent home after each session.

"We are just presenting the medical and scientific facts about sex to the students," she said. "It is up to the parents to instill in their teen their own morals and values about the issues."

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