Ohio May Reject Federal Abstinence Funds

Ohio might become the eighth state to reject federal money for abstinence-only sex education, a decision that public-policy groups say is part of a nationwide shift toward more comprehensive sex-ed programs.

Gov. Ted Strickland has proposed phasing out federal grants for abstinence-only instruction, following the lead of governors in California, Connecticut, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

A bipartisan group in Congress has introduced a bill that would pay for programs that include instruction about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases, while also emphasizing abstinence before marriage.

"The abstinence-only approach has seen its day, and the support's really waning," said Bill Smith, vice president for public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Smith and others attribute the shift away from abstinence-only instruction to new leadership in Congress.

The federal bill, the Responsible Education About Life Act, was first introduced in 2001 but gained little support in a Republican-led Congress that funneled about $175 million a year into abstinence-only programs across the country.

Some states found that the federal grant program had too many strings attached. Abstinence-only educators are asked to adhere to teaching points, including one that states that sex outside of marriage is "likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects."

Other states dropped the program after new rules banned information about contraception and STD prevention, even to answer students' questions.

"The governor believes that continuing to pay for a program that has not been proven to work is an unwise use of tax dollars, particularly when we're facing a very challenging or constrained budget environment," said Keith Dailey, spokesman for the governor.

Some Ohio Republican lawmakers already have said they will fight to restore the abstinence-only money.