Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Approves Fiscal Bill Without Abstinence-Only Funding

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 30 Jul 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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The fiscal year 2010 Senate Appropriations Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee spending bill approved on Tuesday by voice vote does not include funding for abstinence-only programs, CQ Today reports.

Subcommittee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said that when the full committee marks up the bill on Thursday, it will not include funding for abstinence-only sex education. The bill will provide money for comprehensive sex education programs, which can include teaching abstinence. The recently approved House version (HR 3293) takes a similar approach. CQ Today calls Harkin's support for defunding abstinence-only "another nail in the coffin" for the programs, which had grown during President George W. Bush's administration. According to CQ Today, since taking control of Congress in 2007, Democrats have been "slowly bleeding the program," saying most research has shown that abstinence-only programs are "ineffective at ensuring teen chastity."

The subcommittee approved the bill's funding table, which would provide $163.1 billion in discretionary funding. The amount of discretionary funding is $1.6 billion more than President Obama requested, $2.1 billion more than the House bill and $3.2 billion more than the fiscal year 2009 spending bill (Wolfe, CQ Today, 7/28).

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