Abstinence

In an emerging revolt against abstinence-only sex education, states are turning down millions of dollars in federal grants, unwilling to accept White House dictates that the money be used for classes focused almost exclusively on teaching chastity. In Ohio, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland said that regardless of the state's sluggish economic picture, he didn't see the point in taking part in the controversial State Abstinence Education Program anymore.

In the 1990s, amid a growing culture war over the role of religion and morality in public policy, Republicans used their congressional majorities to crank up funding for programs that encouraged teens to abstain from sex until marriage. But now, though Democrats have taken control of Congress, abstinence-only programs are surviving attempts to shut them down. And they could even get an increase with the aid of an unlikely ally: House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.

High school sophomore Ally Hall plans to exchange cards with her friends on Valentine's Day. But her true tribute to the romance of the season will come today, in the principal's office at Lebanon High School in the small town of Lebanon, Ohio. Hall has written a brief script to be read over the publicaddress system. Her message: The most romantic way to celebrate Feb. 14 is to honor it as a "Day of Purity," by pledging to remain chaste until marriage. "People say, 'Don't you get made fun of?

Virginity pledges, in which young people vow to abstain from sex until marriage, have little staying power among those who take them, a Harvard study has found. More than half of the adolescents who make the signed public promises give up on their pledges within a year, according to the study released last week. The findings have raised the ire of Concerned Women for America, a prominent conservative organization that advocates adolescent sexual abstinence.

Re "Abstaining from federal sex-ed funds," April 8 Since when does intolerant religious dogma dictate the national policy on sexual education for our children? Since President Bush and Republicans forced an abstinence-only agenda on states for federal funding. The stated goal: Achieve chastity for our hormonally active children. I would have had to lock my six daughters in their rooms for the duration of their teenage years to achieve this goal. The absurdity of the abstinence-based programs became apparent last year when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a memo stating that states "must not" promote contraceptive and condom use to receive funding.

It was an evening for couples: girls in formal gowns, tiaras and curly up-dos, escorted by their dads, in tuxedos or suits and ties. They dined on roast beef and waltzed to classical music in a ballroom decorated with draped crosses and a mannequin in a white wedding gown. They listened as a guest speaker warned of the dangers of premarital sex. Then they stood at their tables, looked each other in the eye and vowed that they would remain pure. He signed a pledge to be the protector of her purity and to live his own life with integrity.

Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence, and they are significantly less likely to use birth control when they do, according to a study. The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge." The percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or STDs was 10 points lower for pledgers than for nonpledgers.

A recent furor over what appeared to be rebellious Spanish bishops approving the use of condoms -- and the stern Vatican response that forced a quick retreat -- highlighted a quiet but intense debate within the Roman Catholic Church. When, if ever, is it permissible to use condoms to prevent death?

A government website created to help parents counsel their teenagers about risky health behaviors provides "inaccurate and misleading" information about condoms, sexual orientation and other issues, a Democratic congressman charged Wednesday. The site, www.4parents.gov, promotes sexual abstinence until young people enter into a "mutually faithful marriage to an uninfected partner" as the "healthiest choice."

Trustees in Orange County's largest school district approved a controversial health curriculum late Tuesday on the condition that a new textbook that pushes abstinence be supplemented with information that covers birth control alternatives. Sex education has long been a controversial issue in the Santa Ana Unified School District, located in a city where the teen birth rate is double the national average.