President Obama requested…and Congress complied.  All funds were scratched from the FY2010 budget for abstinence education. In its place, a new “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program” was initiated that will spend most of the budgeted $100 million in taxpayer dollars on programs that are out of step with what American parents want for their children’s sex education.

A 2007 Zogby survey¹ confirmed that parents support abstinence-centered education 2:1 over the type of programs funded under the new “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.”

But the reality is that on September 30, 2010, nearly 1 million students will lose abstinence education programs in their schools. One hundred sixty nine (169) abstinence programs will lose funding for their abstinence-centered programs. Some programs will lose their approved funding midstream in their five-year grant award, an astonishing departure from typical grant protocols. This action signifies strong ideological bias rather than sound public health policy.

Valerie Huber, Executive Director of NAEA asserted: “This decision is clearly out of touch with what parents want and with what is demanded by taxpayers. This is yet another example of elite politicians ignoring the will of the people and programs that have demonstrated an effective public health strategy and a crucial anti poverty approach.”

To interview Valerie Huber, please contact Lara Bailey at 202-248-5420 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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NAEA is a professional association representing organizations and individuals who support a priority on risk avoidance through abstinence education. NAEA members serve almost 2 million students each year. For more information, visit the NAEA website: www.theNAEA.org and www.abstinenceworks.org.
 

¹Zogby Survey Shows Dramatic Shift in Attitudes. The full study may be accessed here.