FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
CONTACT:
|
Bill
Barker |
|
Tuesday,
April 23, 2002 |
|
(202) 419-3420 |
HHS "Non-Report" on
Abstinence-Only Programs Challenged by Advocates for Comprehensive
Sex Education
Advocates
for Youth Questions Politics and Timing of HHS Effort
WASHINGTON,
DC (April 23, 2002) The Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)
has rushed to press an "interim report" on abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs (the final report is due in 2005) to coincide with
Congressional reauthorization of these unproven programs. James
Wagoner,
President of Advocates for Youth, has called the effort "an
attempt to pass off a public relations piece as credible
research."
Citing the fact that
the HHS report includes no research on whether abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs delay sexual initiation or protect against STDs,
HIV, or unwanted pregnancy, Wagoner said, "This is a research
report that forgot to include any research! I guess that's
what happens when you put public
relations before public health."
Wagoner ridiculed the
report's claim that abstinence programs are "changing the local
landscape." "The only evidence for making this claim is that
700 of these programs now exist. I guess they are changing
the landscape by merely existing rather than having any
impact on young people's
sexual health. That's quite a feat!"
Regarding the statement
that abstinence-only programs offer more than a single
message, Wagoner stated, "There is still one critical message that remains censored—the
message about contraception and condoms for the prevention
of disease in the era of AIDS. That is a stunning omission
that places the health
and lives of young people at risk."
###
Note
to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set
up an interview with adolescent sexuality experts, please contact
Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.
RETURN TO INDEX
OF PRESS RELEASES >>
|
Send this page to a friend