Federal funding of abstinence education in public schools will expire at the end of June – unless Democrats change their minds.
Dave Schnittger, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said parents must put pressure on Congress over the Memorial Day recess.
"To the extent that the federal government is even going to be involved in areas like this, (parents) believe federal programs should emphasize abstinence," he said. "It’s clear from both survey research and from just listening to the American people."
Linda Klepacki, analyst for sexual health at Focus on the Family Action, said liberals want to protect Planned Parenthood’s monopoly on federal sex-education funding. She cited a study by Robert Rector of The Heritage Foundation, that showed for every dollar abstinence education receives, Planned Parenthood receives $12.
Depriving children of an abstinence message “puts their dreams at risk," Klepacki said. "We’ve proven this over and over and over again.”
Sex education that encourages premarital sexual activity has proven effective in helping to spread disease, Klepacki said, including:
* 18.9 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) each year.
* 15- to 24-year-olds representing nearly half of all new STD cases in 2000.
* 822,000 pregnancies among 15- to 19-year-olds in 2000.
“These numbers haven’t changed since I began teaching abstinence in 1979,” Klepacki said. “How many government studies do we have to have to know that being sexually active in your teen years is not safe?"
TAKE ACTION
Contact your representative during the Memorial Day break, beginning Friday and ending June 1, and ask that they vote to reauthorize abstinence funding.
Find your presentative’s local phone number at Family Research Council’s Web site. Type your Zip Code in the space provided and click the “Go” button.
You’ll be transferred to a page where, toward the bottom, you’ll see a photo of your Representative. Underneath the photo, click “info.”
You’ll be transferred to another page that will list the representative’s local and Washington, D.C., office numbers. Call the local number between Friday and June 1.
Pay particular attention to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That committee is expected to consider the question of abstinence funding the week of June 4.
Committee members include:
Chairman John D. Dingell, D-Mich., Dearborn office, (313) 278-2936
Vice Chair Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
Democrats
Henry A. Waxman, Calif.
Edward J. Markey, Mass.
Rick Boucher, Va.
Edolphus Towns, N.Y.
Frank Pallone, Jr., N.J.
Bart Gordon, Tenn.
Bobby L. Rush, Ill.
Anna G. Eshoo, Calif.
Bart Stupak, Mich., Petoskey office, (231) 348-0657
Eliot L. Engel, N.Y.
Albert R. Wynn, Md.
Gene Green, Texas
Vito Fossella, N.Y.
Lois Capps, Calif.
Mike Doyle, Pa.
Jane Harman, Calif.
Tom Allen, Maine
Jan Schakowsky, Ill.
Hilda L. Solis, Calif.
Charles A. Gonzalez, Texas
Jay Inslee, Wash.
Tammy Baldwin, Wis.
Mike Ross, Ark.
Darlene Hooley, Ore.
Anthony D. Weiner, N.Y.
Jim Matheson, Utah
G. K. Butterfield, N.C.
Charlie Melancon, La., Gonzales office, (225) 621-8490
John Barrow, Ga., Savannah office, (912) 354-7282
Baron P. Hill, Ind., Jeffersonville office, (812) 288-3999
Republicans
Joe Barton, Texas, Ranking Member
Ralph M. Hall, Texas
Dennis Hastert, Ill.
Fred Upton, Mich.
Cliff Stearns, Fla.
Nathan Deal, Ga.
Ed Whitfield, Ky.
Barbara Cubin, Wyo.
John Shimkus, Ill.
Heather Wilson, NM
John Shadegg, AZ
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering, Miss.
Steve Buyer, Ind.
George Radanovich, Calif.
Joseph R. Pitts, Pa.
Mary Bono, Calif.
Greg Walden, Ore.
Lee Terry, Neb.
Mike Ferguson, N.J.
Mike Rogers, Mich.
Sue Myrick, N.C.
John Sullivan, Okla.
Tim Murphy, Pa.
Michael C. Burgess, Texas
Marsha Blackburn, Tenn.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
