Just Say No

Sexual abstinence programs that bar any discussion of birth control or condoms to prevent pregnancy or AIDS are in line for a 33 percent increase in the budget President Bush is to submit to Congress.

Spending on "abstinence-only" education has been climbing over the last five years, as conservatives argue that teaching teen-agers about contraception indirectly condones teen sex. Critics say there is little evidence showing abstinence programs work.

The president will propose $135 million for abstinence-only education next year, an increase of $33 million, according to an administration official who spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The request fulfills a pledge Bush made while campaigning for president to spend as much promoting abstinence as some have calculated the government spends educating teens about contraception.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson noted that the programs are very popular with many of his Republican colleagues, though he acknowledged a paucity of evidence of their effectiveness.

"The president feels, the administration feels, a lot of people in Congress feel that this is a much better way to attempt to solve this problem of teen-age pregnancy," Thompson said in an interview Wednesday. "Let's try them out and see if we can't get it to work."

Thompson said he is interested to see the results of extensive research on the program now under way. "I'm a results-oriented kind of person," he said.

Proponents argue that the nation has spent considerable money on birth control services, yet nearly 900,000 teen-agers get pregnant each year and one in three American babies is born to unmarried parents.

Opponents say it's unrealistic to push abstinence, given that many teen-agers already are having sex, and the surgeon general and others say there is no evidence the programs work.

"I find it stunning that an administration that touts the values of science when it comes to environmental policy can't run fast enough away from science when it comes to sexual health," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, which supports "abstinence-plus" programs. These encourage teens to say no to sex but suggest contraceptives and condoms for those who do not.

Intense debate over abstinence-only programs began in 1995 and 1996, when Congress was writing the massive welfare overhaul. The final legislation included $50 million per year for abstinence education, to be nearly matched by participating states. The money may not be combined with programs that discuss the benefits of contraception.

Under the law, the programs must meet one of eight goals. Among them: teaching that sex outside marriage probably would have harmful psychological and physical effects, how to reject sexual advances and why drugs and alcohol make avoiding sex more difficult.

Uncomfortable with the program, many states used their money to run pro-virginity media campaigns or after-school programs that make lttle if any mention of sex or abstinence.

Conservatives in Congress complained that states were dodging the intent of the program and created a new pool of abstinence-only money distributed directly by HHS. This program, which is where Bush wants the money increase, is meant to pay for programs that overtly discuss the value of avoiding sex.

According to the administration official, the Bush budget will ask Congress for abstinence-only money in three pieces: