Abstinence educators have recently formed the National Abstinence Education Association and opened a Washington, D.C., office to lobby Congress against reducing funding for abstinence-based sex education programs, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports. Funding for such programs from $10 million in 1997 to $176 million this year. Some members of Congress have introduced legislation that would promote comprehensive sex education instead of abstinence-based programs. According to the AP/Herald Tribune, abstinence-based education is funded through three different programs. One of the programs, called Title V, is scheduled to expire this year, and its reauthorization could "set the stage for a potential showdown" over the program's future direction and funding (Freking, AP/International Herald Tribune, 4/10). Title V, administered by HHS' Administration for Children and Families, distributes funds based on a formula favoring states with more low-income children. To receive Title V funds, states must adhere to certain requirements, including barring teachers from discussing contraception and requiring them to say that sex within marriage is "the expected standard of sexual activity." Many state governors have said the grants place too many restrictions on the curricula to be practical. California, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have rejected Title V funds. President Bush has asked Congress to appropriate $191 million for the program for fiscal year 2008, an increase of $28 million from FY 2007 funding levels (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/10).

Comments
Valerie Huber, executive director of NAEA, said the organization is not a response to Democrats assuming the majority in Congress but "just the evolution of the field of abstinence education." She added that the field is often misunderstood or mischaracterized. "We're not talking about just avoiding pregnancy or just avoiding teen birth," Huber said, adding, "We're talking about healthy relationship-building. We're talking about skills in healthy decision-making, goal-setting and providing information." Wade Horn, who was assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families until he resigned last week, said Congress likely will allow states more flexibility in how they spend Title V funds. "I've seen some bills introduced by Democrats that suggest they want a separate fund dedicated to comprehensive sex education, but my sense is that it won't be at the expense of abstinence education," Horn said, adding, "I think it's a matter of both, not one or the other." According to the AP/Herald Tribune, abstinence educators also recently hired a public relations firm that has Republican and conservative clients. "They've had smooth sailing for seven years," James Wagoner -- president of Advocates for Youth, which supports comprehensive sex education -- said, adding, "Their hiring of this firm shows that they know the honeymoon with Congress is over" (AP/International Herald Tribune, 4/10).