ACLU Takes Aim At Dangerous Abstinence-Only Curricula in the States

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the launch of “Not In My State,” a nationwide day of action aimed at combating dangerous abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula. ACLU affiliates across the country sent letters to local officials calling for careful scrutiny of health and life-skills programs.

“Today’s action should be a wake-up call for many states,” said Louise Melling, Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “State officials need to ensure the health and safety of students by taking responsibility for the curricula taught in their classrooms.”

According to a recent report prepared by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, many abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula used by federally-funded programs contain false and misleading information and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Perhaps most alarmingly, these curricula misrepresent the effectiveness of contraceptives by vastly understating the effectiveness of condoms at protecting against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and preventing unintended pregnancy. Such misinformation is particularly alarming given that each year in the United States, nearly 9.1 million 15-24 year olds are infected with an STD and more than 800,000 15-19 year olds become pregnant.

Affiliates sent letters to local officials asking them to keep unsafe programs out of the classroom to protect the health of young people throughout their state. The letters encourage the officials to select health and life-skills curricula that present medically accurate, age-appropriate, and unbiased information about sex and sexuality.

“For too long the federal government has funded abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula that are based on ideology and religion rather than science,” said Roger C. Vann, Executive Director of ACLU - Connecticut. “Studies show that the overwhelming majority of parents want their children to get all the information they need to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and STDs. If the federal government continues to censor life-saving information, then it is up to the states to say enough is enough.”

Since 1997, the federal government has poured nearly a billion dollars into abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that deny teenagers the information they need to prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs. In addition, many of these programs promote gender stereotypes, discriminate against gay and lesbian youth and all too often proselytize on the public’s dime.

Recent studies show that most abstinence-only programs do not prevent teens from having sex before marriage and that many actually deter teens who become sexually active from using condoms and getting tested and treated for STDs when they start having sex.

On the other hand, evidence shows that teaching teens the importance of abstinence as well as the importance of effective contraceptive use helps teens delay sex and increases condom use among sexually active teens. Currently, no federal program is dedicated to supporting this commonsense approach to sexuality education, the ACLU noted.

The ACLU affiliates participating in today’s action include: Alaska CLU, ACLU of Arkansas, ACLU of North California, ACLU of South California, ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, ACLU of Connecticut, ACLU of Delaware, ACLU of Georgia, ACLU of Illinois, ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Michigan, ACLU of Minnesota, ACLU of Eastern Missouri, ACLU of Nebraska, New York CLU, ACLU of Pennsylvania, ACLU of Rhode Island, ACLU of Tennessee, and ACLU of Wyoming.

“Not In My State” is part of the ACLU’s Take Issue, Take Charge campaign. Take Issue, Take Charge is a nationwide campaign coordinated by the national ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project in conjunction with ACLU affiliates throughout the country. Following its initial focus on sexuality education, the campaign will target other pressing reproductive rights issues, including increasing access to emergency contraception and combating refusals by hospitals, insurance companies, pharmacies and others to provide basic reproductive health services.