ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Related Resources: >> Improving U.S. Global AIDS Policy for Young People: Assessing PEPFAR >> Adolescent Sexual Health in Developing Countries

House of Representatives Eases Harmful International
Abstinence-Until-Marriage Earmark

Washington, D.C. (June 21, 2007) By a vote of 200-206 the House of Representatives defeated an amendment offered by Representative Joseph Pitts (R-PA) to reinstate the “33 percent” abstinence-until-marriage earmark in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The Foreign Operations Appropriations bill contains a provision that waives the mandatory abstinence-until-marriage earmark for FY 2008. The provision provides the administration with greater flexibility to respond quickly to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and specific countries’ needs.

"Hopefully, this new provision in PEPFAR will push the administration to set ideology aside and do what is best to fight this pandemic,” said James Wagoner, President of Advocates for Youth.

Worldwide, teens and young adults account for more than half of all new HIV infections and more than one-third of those living with AIDS. Every day, more than 6,000 young people become infected. PEPFAR currently requires that at least 33 percent of HIV prevention funding be used exclusively for programs that promote abstinence-until-marriage as the only way to stop the spread of HIV. PEPFAR also limits programs directed at young people from promoting condom use as a prevention method.

"The abstinence-until-marriage earmark has served as a political straightjacket for too long, preventing health care professionals in PEPFAR countries from properly fighting the pandemic,” concluded Wagoner. “By defeating the Pitts Amendment, Members of Congress have sent a clear message - - let’s respect each country’s right to develop HIV/AIDS plans that address their needs.

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Advocates for Youth is a national, nonprofit organization that creates programs and supports policies that help young people make safe, responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

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