Abstinence-only curricula teaching misleading information

January 2005

A new report shows that 11 of 13 popular federally funded abstinence-only education programs use curricula that teach adolescents “false, misleading or distorted information about reproductive health.”

“The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs” concluded that these programs distort information about the effectiveness of contraceptives, misrepresent risks of abortion, blur religion and science, treat gender stereotypes as scientific fact and contain basic scientific medical errors.

“It’s absolutely vital that the health education provided to America’s youth be scientifically and medically accurate,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., in a release. “The abstinence-only programs reviewed in this report fail to meet this standard. Something is seriously wrong when federal tax dollars are being used to mislead kids about basic health facts.”

The comprehensive evaluation, released last month by Waxman, reviewed the curricula of the 13 most commonly used Special Programs of Regional and National Significance Community-Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS) projects.

SPRANS is one of three federal programs that support abstinence-only education and provide federal grants to community organizations. It is aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Report’s findings

The evaluation examined the scientific and medical accuracy of these abstinence-only curricula, used by programs receiving funds from the largest federal abstinence initiative.

Of the 13 curricula evaluated, the report concluded, 11 contained “major errors and distortions of public health information.”

These 11 are used for teaching adolescent children in 25 states in 69 different venues — not only schools but also hospitals, state health departments and religious and pro-life organizations, the report states. These 69 grantees received more than $32 million in SPRANS abstinence-only funding in fiscal year 2003 (the year examined in the report).

Some examples of the “false, misleading or distorted information” in the abstinence-only curricula are statements that 50% of homosexual male adolescents have HIV, that a 43-day-old fetus may be thought of as a “thinking person” and that HIV can be transmitted through sweat and tears.

The report also found that several of the curricula relied on outdated sources, such as a report on the health dangers of legal abortion from the 1970s, to educate students. Another curriculum states that studies show 5% to 10% of abortions will lead to sterility, even though according to the American Medical Association, risk complications have dramatically declined from 1970 to 1990 and modern obstetrics textbooks teach that “fertility is not altered by an elective abortion.”

Several curricula exaggerate condom failure rates for pregnancy, and another presents misleading information that mutual masturbation “can result in pregnancy.”

Despite the CDC’s statement that “latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are highly effective in preventing HIV transmission,” multiple curricula teach adolescents that condoms fail to prevent the transmission of HIV as often as 31% of the time in heterosexual intercourse. This figure comes from a 1993 study that has since been discredited by federal health officials.

The report also highlights how some curricula incorporate science and religious beliefs and “moral judgements are misleadingly offered as scientific fact.”

Furthermore, many curricula teach gender stereotypes, such as girls care less about their future goals and achievements than boys do. Some describe girls as more helpless or dependent on men, and men as sexually aggressive and lacking deep emotions.

Programs’ problems

Under the Bush administration, federal funding for these abstinence-only programs has grown rapidly. In fiscal year 2005, the federal government will spend $170 million on abstinence-only education, more than twice the amount spent in 2001.

Such funding allows millions of children and adolescents to be taught abstinence-only education, education that promotes sexual abstinence without first teaching the basic facts regarding contraception methods.

Unlike comprehensive sex education, abstinence-only programs have not been shown to decrease rates of teenage pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to several studies that evaluated the effectiveness of such programs.

“Serious and pervasive problems with the accuracy of abstinence-only curricula may help to explain why these programs have not been shown to protect adolescents from sexually transmitted diseases and why youth who pledge abstinence are significantly less likely to make informed choices about precautions when they do have sex,” the report concludes.

The report goes on to explain that one study conducted by Columbia University researchers found that these programs may actually increase participants’ risk of sexual behaviors.

This research concluded that although virginity pledge programs assisted some adolescents in delaying sex, 88% still engaged in sex. Their rates of STDs were not significantly different from the nonpledgers’, and virginity pledgers were less likely to use contraception and seek STD screening when they did have sex.

Waxman’s report goes on to explain that comprehensive sex education programs, in contrast to abstinence-only, encourage abstinence but teach students about effective contraception and safe sexual practices. Such programs have been found to delay sex, reduce the frequency of sex and increase contraceptive use among adolescents.

For more information:

• To view a copy of the complete report, “The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs” by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform – Minority Staff Special Investigations Division, December 2004, visit www.democrats.reform.house.gov.