To critics of abstinence-based education, the policy shift addresses growing concerns that sexually active youth aren't getting access to medically accurate information about contraceptives and disease prevention.
In an Oct. 3 report that surveyed abstinence programs in 10 states, the Government Accountability Office concluded that such programs were not proved to work, and at times contained inaccuracies about condoms and AIDS.
In the report, one state official described an instance in which educational materials "incorrectly suggested that HIV can pass through condoms because the latex used in condoms is porous." The official also showed that the state had "had to correct a statement indicating that when a person is infected with the human papillomavirus, the virus is 'present for life' because, in almost all cases, this is untrue," the report said.
"Just saying no is not working," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, which advocates comprehensive sex education, including contraceptive information. "These are efforts by the federal government to fund ideological programs, not healthcare or medical programs."
White House support for the grants -- which are sometimes called Title V grants, for the portion of the Social Security Act under which they were established -- remains strong.
In a federal budget that is tight for nearly everything but entitlements, domestic security, and the military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Bush has asked Congress to carve out $191 million for the abstinence program in fiscal 2008 -- an increase of $28 million over current funding.
From 1995 to 2002, teen pregnancy rates dropped 24%, according to a study by Columbia University and the Guttmacher Institute. The report, published in the American Journal of Public Health in January, attributed 14% of the decline to teens waiting longer to have sex, and the rest to contraception.
Federal officials hope to prevent other states from dropping out of the Title V program. Late last month, a memo by the Family and Youth Services Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families clarified that although state agencies could only use Title V grants for abstinence-based programs, those programs could be part of a broader curriculum that includes contraception education.
"This is not an either-or-situation," said Harry Wilson, the associate commissioner of the bureau, which manages the program.
