As reported by the Family Research Council, Congressional stupidity (already running quite high, thank you) is about to reach a new level by denying a $50 million renewal of the critical abstinence-only sex education funding -- this while slyly squirreling away into the war supplemental bill such "pork barrel" projects as $74 million for peanut storage, $24 million for sugar beets, and $13 million for sheep breeding.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), an outspoken critic of abstinence programs, showed unusual compassion for the nation's taxpayers, saying, "American[s]... have already paid more than $1 billion for [abstinence] programs [in the last 11 years]." Yet where is this same concern when the government spends over a quarter of a billion dollars each year in Title X funds for groups like Planned Parenthood, which promote teen promiscuity, birth control without parental consent, and--when that fails--abortion?
More importantly, what have Americans received for the government's hefty investment in so-called "comprehensive" liberal sex education programs, other than a culture of rampant disease, poverty, and out-of-wedlock births?
As Congress considers slashing funds for Title V programs that address these problems, FRC hosted a breakfast this morning with Reps. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) for Abstinence Day on the Hill. Hundreds of students, abstinence educators, and groups like FRC flooded congressional offices as part of the fight to reauthorize Title V funding so that the "save sex" message can build on its proven success.
To protect these programs from extinction, we need your help.
Contact your representatives and tell them that $50 million is a modest price to pay for programs that can dramatically reduce the rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. If Congress can defend a $100 million earmark for citrus fruit, surely it can justify spending half that for children whose futures will be brighter and healthier because of these valuable programs.
