New Right-Wing Holiday: “Abstinence Day”

Today, groups like the Family Research Council (FRC) are holding "Abstinence Day" on Capitol Hill. They are trying to overwhelm lawmakers to get them to support ineffective and medically inaccurate abstinence-only programs.

Well isn't this interesting? Today, groups like the Family Research Council (FRC) are holding "Abstinence Day" on Capitol Hill. It seems the FRC is trying to overwhelm lawmakers with one-on-one lobby visits and flood Capitol Hill phone lines with calls from anti-choice activists. I guess they didn't like the results of the recent government-sponsored report, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that shows they don't actually work.

Did Bush even read his own governments' report? I doubt it. You know, since he took office, Congress has spent a whopping $778 million on ineffective abstinence-only programs! That's $778 million of your tax dollars wasted on medically inaccurate and misleading information. This news is not terribly shocking—given this administration's record over the course of the past six years. But thankfully, now that Congress is under pro-choice leadership, we have a chance to fight back.

Today, to counter the actions of anti-choice groups and to highlight the consequences of wasteful spending, please take a moment to tell your members of Congress today that Americans oppose ineffective, ideologically driven abstinence-only programs.

Study after study has shown that many abstinence-only programs include medically inaccurate and misleading information. Even worse, independent research shows that students in these classes are not more likely to abstain from sex or delay when they become sexually active. Instead of recklessly spending your tax dollars on programs that don't work, Congress should be focusing on commonsense solutions to prevent teen pregnancy.

Please, urge your members of Congress to stop putting politics ahead of young people's health and stop funding dangerous abstinence-only programs.