NYCLU Sues CUNY For Withholding Investment Records From Pro-Palestine Student Organizers
Civil Liberties Union
Taxpayer-funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in New York State have used materials that rely on scare tactics, contain inaccurate and medically unsound information, include religious messages and leave youth unprepared to make healthy decisions about sexuality, concludes a report released today by the Reproductive Rights Project of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“It’s time to stop wasting taxpayer money on ideologically driven programs that don’t work,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “While spending millions of dollars on these ineffective programs, the state hasn’t spent a single dollar on age-appropriate, medically accurate, comprehensive sexuality education. This must change.”
The report, Financing Ignorance: A Report on Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding in New York, chronicles an in-depth investigation of 39 abstinence-only-until marriage programs statewide that received federal funding through 2006.
Based on a review of more than 33,000 pages of state and federal documents, the report urges state and federal lawmakers to stop funding these biased and unsound programs, and asks lawmakers to instead dedicate money to comprehensive sexuality education that teaches students safe and effective ways, including abstinence, to protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
“Our students need full, unbiased and useful information regarding sexual health,” said Galen Sherwin, director of the NYCLU’s Reproductive Rights Project. “Only in this way will they be able to make responsible life decisions and grow into healthy adults.”
Since 1981, the federal government has allocated more than $1 billion for abstinence-only-until marriage programs throughout the nation. New York is currently the third largest recipient of federal money for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, behind Texas and Florida. In fiscal year 2006, New York accepted more than $10 million in federal funding — matched by nearly $4 million in state funds — for dozens of such programs.
The NYCLU’s analysis revealed that:
Since conducting its review, the NYCLU has learned that as of October 2007, New York State has cancelled all existing contracts awarded under Title V, one of the principal federal funding streams for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, and it has pledged to use the state-matching funds for programs aimed at pregnancy prevention.
“This is a wonderful development and the state must be applauded for this important first-step,” Sherwin said. “But more needs to be done. Our young people need comprehensive, age-appropriate and medically accurate sex education, and the state and federal government must earmark funds to support it. Congress must further show leadership on this issue and stop wasting taxpayer money on ideologically driven programs that don’t work.”
This report recommends the following steps: