Misspent Tax Dollars: Abstinence-only Sex Education

Among the many fiascos that the Chimperator has brought to the nation during his years of misrule is the handing out of money to Christianist abstinence only sex education programs that do not work and in fact expose teenagers in health dangers and the risk of unwanted pregancies. It goes without saying that legitimate education on the issue of homosexuality for LGBT teens never occurs under these programs either. These programs are nothing more than handouts to far right religious organizations that use the funds to disseminate their poisonous propaganda. And folks like Sarah "Bible Spice" Palin and Mike Huckabee continue to laud such bogus programs. Here are some highlights on this waste of tax dollars:

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Thanks to George W. Bush and a complicit Congress, we currently spend $1.5 billion a year to fund abstinence-only until marriage sex education in our public schools. And yes, that money goes to people like Derek Dye, as he is employed by the Elizabeth New Life Center that received a $800,000 CBAE grant in 2007 to promote abstinence until marriage. His qualifications? A “Bachelor of Fun Arts” from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.

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Abstinence-only programs censor information about contraception and condoms; make moral judgments students may not share; stigmatize and shame students who have already had sex; and discriminate against GLBTQ students who can’t legally marry. These programs often encourage stereotypical gender roles, use scare tactics, blur religion and science, and contain factual errors, like saying that HIV can be spread through sweat and tears.

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What’s more, abstinence-only programs don’t work – independent study after study has shown that students who receive them don’t have lower pregnancy, HIV, or STI rates. And worse, students who receive abstinence-only programs are less likely to use contraception and condoms when they do have sex.

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So… what can we do to make sure that abstinence-only programs like this one are not funded with our tax dollars? First of all, contact the Obama transition team to make sure that they ZERO OUT these programs in their first budget. Also, ending abstinence-only funding is currently 3rd place on Change.gov's user rankings, so you can go there and vote for it, too.Secondly, we must contact all of our representatives to let them know that we do not want this waste of money being snuck back into the budget through the appropriations process.