The 1996 federal Welfare Reform Law's abstinence-only-until-marriage provision included a strict eight-point definition of "abstinence education." All three federal funding streams for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA), Title V (welfare reform), and Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE)?must adhere to this definition. While Title V and AFLA require that programs not be inconsistent with any of the eight points, CBAE requires that all programs funded be responsive to each of the eight points.

Section 510(b) of Title V of the Social Security Act, P.L. 104?193

For the purposes of this section, the term "abstinence education" means an educational or motivational program which:

A

has as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;

B

teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school-age children;

C

teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;

D

teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of sexual activity;

E

teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;

F

teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;

G

teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increase vulnerability to sexual advances, and

H

teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.

This definition ensures that young people who have already engaged in sexual activity, those who have been sexually abused, or those living in nontraditional households are not only denied critical health information but are presented with shame- and fear-based messages. Other groups of young people, such as gay and lesbian youth, are ignored completely by this definition. (See Reality Behind Programs for more examples.)

In fact, in 1997, the federal government released guidance for funded programs that pointed to the underlying principle of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Commenting on the intent of Congress in drafting the provision, Ron Haskins and Carol Statuto Bevan, congressional staff members who were key in crafting of the "abstinence education" language, wrote that, "the explicit goal of the abstinence-only education programs is to change both behavior and community standards for the good of the country." While some might consider the standard required by law to be outdated, they continued, the "standard was intended to align Congress with the social tradition...that sex should be confined to married couples. That both the practices and standards in many communities across the country clash with the standard required by the law is precisely the point." 1

Things got worse in early 2006 when the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new funding announcement for CBAE programs. With this call for new proposals, ACF has promulgated a series of new assaults on logic, science, and individual dignity, and CBAE programs have become that much more ideologically driven.

The new funding announcement views sexual abstinence prior to marriage as the magic elixir to a more perfect life. Sexual abstinence before marriage is credited with leading to a happier life, including having a healthier marriage, having more money, having healthier future children, being more "responsible" parents, being honorable and having integrity, attaining a better education, having fewer psychological disorders, avoiding drug, alcohol, and tobacco use, committing fewer crimes and staying out of prison, and having a longer life span. The problem with ACF's proclamations, however, is that they have no basis in sound evidence and very little grasp on the reality endured by the vast majority of America's youth. (See SIECUS' full report, It Gets Worse, for more information on the new CBAE funding announcement.)

References

1 Ron Haskins and Carol Statuto Bevan, ?Abstinence education under welfare reform,? Children and Youth Services Review, 1997, 19(5/6):465-484.