Family Life Education Act Would Allocate $100M for Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Family Life Education Act Key Component of 'Putting Prevention First Act', Would Allocate $100M for Comprehensive Sexuality Education

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Contact: Adrienne Verrilli or Niole Cordier of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S., 212-819-9770

NEW YORK, April 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today, as part of the commemoration of the March for Women's Lives which will take place on April 25, the bipartisan Pro-Choice Caucus introduced the Putting Prevention First Act. This legislative initiative seeks to expand access to preventative health care services and education programs in order to help reduce unintended pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS, and to reduce the number of abortions.

Included in this initiative, among other important provisions, is the Family Life Education Act (107th Congress-H.R. 3469) that would provide $100 million per year to states for the purpose of implementing and supporting comprehensive sexuality education that is age-appropriate, medically accurate, and stresses abstinence while also educating young people about contraception. Funded programs would also stress family communication, responsible decision-making, and negotiation skills.

"Comprehensive sexuality education is a key component in an overall prevention strategy to ensure that young people have medically accurate information about their sexual health, and the communication and relationship skills they need in order to make responsible and informed decisions about their health and their futures," said Tamara Kreinin, president and CEO of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS). "SIECUS fully supports this initiative and its inclusion of the wide-range of reproductive and sexual health care components that are critical to any responsible prevention package," Kreinin continued.

The bill will also contain provisions to increase funding for the national family planning program (Title X of the Public Health Services Act), give states the option of expanding access to Medicaid family planning services, require health plans to cover prescription contraceptives if they cover other drugs and devices, provide funding for an emergency contraception (EC) public education campaign, and require emergency rooms to provide access to EC to victims of sexual assault.

No federal funding stream exists dedicated to comprehensive sexuality education programs. On the other hand, the federal government has invested more than $550 million dollars in unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs since 1998, and President Bush is seeking an additional $270 million this fiscal year alone. Specifically, there are three federal funding streams dedicated to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. These programs are prohibited from discussing contraceptives except in the context of failure rates and have never been proven effective. In fact, recent studies have shown that some components of these programs may cause harm to young people by making them less likely to use contraception once they become sexually active.

"All people deserve open and honest sexual health information and access to affordable reproductive and sexual health care services throughout their lives so that they can protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and disease. This initiative is an important step in making that a reality," Kreinin said. "SIECUS applauds Representatives DeGette (D-Colo.), Greenwood (R- Penn.), Johnson (R-Ct.), and Slaughter (D-N.Y.) for their bipartisan leadership and dedication to effective prevention policies," Kreinin continued.

This legislative initiative seeks to expand access to preventative health care services and education programs in order to help reduce unintended pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS, and to reduce the number of abortions.

Highly unlikely, obviously.

No federal funding stream exists dedicated to comprehensive sexuality education programs.

Nor should there be. The Federal Beast has absolutely NO business involving itself in anything other than regulating interstate commerce, building roads and providing for a common defense. Almost everything else this bloated organization does is an overstep of its very limited authority.

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