Winning the Funding and Losing the "War"

The news from Washington DC about abstinence funding has been generally favorable. Yes, there are attempts to restrict abstinence education in ways that don't apply to comprehensive sex education--such as, medical accuracy and evaluation--but before final passage of the bills, equality will reign. Afterall, it makes no sense to pass a law that, by omission, allows comprehensive sex education to be medically inaccurate.



But our opponents still imagine something sinister is occurring in abstinence education and, after a summer hiatus, are now targeting the states with the largest programs that have received the greatest share of federal funds. New York' governor just announced that Title V funds will never go to abstinence education leaving 40 thriving programs without $3 million dollars in funding. The decision wasn't made after a careful review of all sex education programs; it never is. It is a response to their liberal constituency...it has nothing to do with message, citizen preferences, results or even the welfare of our children. Abstinence education does not harm children. There is absolutely no reason that children should not hear that message. But without that message, all they will hear is its their choice to have sex and when they make that free choice, keep themselves safe. What kind of person thinks that is all our children should know about sex?



Since last spring, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and now New York have had the rug pulled out by the governors. In Illinois, someone slipped the abstinence funding out of the final budget so it was a shock that the state government overwhelming previous support was no longer there. Among those states are some of the premiere leaders in abstinence education, some of the largest curriculum providers, the longest histories in abstinence education and some of the largest populations served.



They are systematically toppling the Sequoias of the industry. They think they are winning! But in the shade of those "big guys", there are alot of saplings that wouldn't know a federal grant if it bit them. They have been in our schools, churches, youth groups for decades. They answer the calls from coast to coast of small town schools asking for "emergency" help because their teens are pregnant, their teen suicides are going up, their kids are out of control. They have to turn to us because the state "assistance" via sex education got their communities in the mess.



What will happen next? There will be mandates forcing principals and teachers to teach only the state-issued curriculum despite laws that protect local control of curriculum. The state will be controlling SEX. Already there are those who do not like the selected texts, and believing them harmful, have made that refusal. The CONTENT is the real issue that counts! When people realize that is what is really being controlled, thids little war will change.