Social Issues Mon Nov 24 2008

Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage: It's Not Just for Nobody Anymore

A brilliant bit by blogger William Smith regarding Illinois' continued acceptance of "abstinence-only-until-marriage" funding from the federal government, at a point when half the nation has rejected such funding on the admittedly insane grounds that every available reliable study has shown such sex ed curricula "don't work."

Perhaps the state's decision to continue accepting Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funding is based on the private interests of certain people involved in the movement in Illinois. Not only does Illinois receive one of the largest chunks of abstinence-only-until-marriage funds, but it hosts two of the largest providers of the curricula which seep into schools, organizations, and after-school programs nationwide. For example, Scott Phelps, who got his start in anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers in the Chicagoland area, is the founder of the Abstinence and Education Marriage Partnership in Wheeling, and co-author of three of the most popular abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula, Game Plan, Aspire, and Navigator.

Go read the whole thing.

— Ramsin Canon / Comments (1)