UNITED STATES: House Boosts Abstinence-Only Funding

The House of Representatives' appropriation bill includes a 49 percent funding increase for abstinence education grants, but it is unclear when, or whether, the additional funds will be available. Congressional aides say the Senate has not passed its appropriation bill for the Department of Health and Social Services and is not likely to do so until after the November election. The House appropriation would boost funding for the abstinence program, known as Special Projects of Regional and National Significance, from $70.5 million in fiscal 2004 to $105 million in fiscal 2005.
Leslee Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S.D., called the increase "pretty exciting" and said it and other abstinence grants are "making an impact." A recent CDC report gives abstinence part of the credit for a 53 percent decline in teen births from 1991 to 2001, Unruh said. Still, she said her group's goal is funding parity: She estimated that abstinence education receives just $1 for every $12 spent on programs promoting condom use.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Congress must "begin to repeal some of this abstinence-only madness." She is lead sponsor of a bill that would allocate $100 million annually for comprehensive sex education. California's refusal to take federal funds that must be spent on abstinence education have cost it $46 million, Lee said.
According to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, a federal study has shown that teens who sign virginity pledges tend to delay intercourse for 18 months - but not until marriage - and are far less likely to use condoms or birth control when they do initiative sexual activity.
A Heritage Foundation study says that teens who sign virginity pledges are less likely to become pregnant, give birth as teens, or be sexually active in high school or as young adults.

MARYLAND: Feds Reward State for Decline in Unwed Mothers

The federal government has awarded Maryland $25 million in recognition of a reduction in births to unwed mothers. State Human Resources Secretary Christopher McCabe said the money will be used to help poor families and children.
New York, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C., also received $25 million bonuses. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributes the money under the 1996 Welfare Reform Act to jurisdictions that show the greatest decline in out-of-wedlock births without an increase in the abortion rate.
According to the most recent statistics from CDC, unwed mothers' percentage of all births declined from 34.73 to 34.62 between 1999 and 2002.
Maryland's rate is slightly higher than the national average. "Maryland has done something about this, and it has done it in a positive way that is good for children and families," said Dr. Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at HHS.
The progress is attributed to programs that encourage young women to make better choices and avoid relationships with older men, and to fatherhood programs for young men.
"There is a consensus that children who are born to teenage mothers have a much tougher road to navigate," said McCabe. "That was a bipartisan consensus. Maryland has been very progressive and aggressive in trying to implement these [welfare reform] initiatives."

GEORGIA: 15 in Forsyth Positive for TB

Fifteen Forsyth Central High School students recently tested positive in preliminary TB tests, but none shows active signs of the disease, said Dr. Melody Stancil, director of the health district. Students will receive a months-long drug regimen if X-rays taken this week reveal TB, she added. In mid-September, Georgia Health Department authorities discovered an 11th-grader at the school had contracted TB. The state Department of Human Resources tested 270 classmates as a precaution. This is the first case for a Forsyth County student, said Stancil. County health officials do not know where or how the student became infected, or if he infected the other students. In 2002, there were 533 reported active TB cases in Georgia.