“Hollywood Henry has been a long-time opponent of abstinence education and his congressional district includes a large homosexual constituency in West Hollywood as well as the liberal Hollywood moguls who live in 90210,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty.

TVC has been a leading advocate of abstinence education since 1988 when Rev. Sheldon worked to gain passage of one of the nation’s first abstinence education bills in California. The bill, S.B. 2394, was used as a model all across the United States.

Hollywood Henry’s hearing was lopsided with testimony from numerous anti-abstinence “experts.” However, the conservatives on the committee had three witnesses who testified as to the effectiveness of abstinence education. They were: Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Dr. Stan Weed, and Charles Keckler with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Weed’s testimony before the committee is an important document for those supporting abstinence education. He began his testimony by noting:

I started my examination of abstinence education nearly 20 years ago with a very skeptical mind about the likelihood of finding any success. Since that time, I have examined over 100 different abstinence education programs from an empirical standpoint. I have collected data from nearly 500,000 adolescents. I have personally interviewed more than 2,000. I may be the only person on this panel today who has actually been “on the ground” evaluating abstinence education programs. This has given me direct, extensive exposure to young people and their world. I have learned some things from that experience that are very difficult, if not impossible, to replicate through secondhand experience.

Weed’s 18-page testimony outlines the claims by anti-abstinence advocates that abstinence education doesn’t work. He shows that so-called comprehensive sex education (which includes discussions of condom use, etc.) hasn’t been effective in reducing teen sexual activity or the spread of STDs.

According to Weed: “… a pattern of scientific evidence is emerging that indicates abstinence-centered sex education programs, if properly designed and implemented, can cut rates of teen sexual activity by as much as half for significant periods of time…”

Dr. Weed stated:

Do all abstinence programs work? Of course not. We have also evaluated programs that do not work well, or that do not work for all of the program participants. … Successful programs usually share the following characteristics:

1. Adequate Dosage  -- Successful programs attend to the critical factor of adequate “dosage,” and deliver that dosage on an effective schedule.

2. Mediating Factors  -- They go beyond the simplistic notion of “providing information” (even if it is medically accurate) and effectively address the key predictors of adolescent sexual risk behavior that are amenable to intervention.

3. Messenger  --  They give as much attention to the messenger as they do to the message. Effective teachers make more of a difference in program outcomes than do printed materials. These teachers engage students in the learning process, gain their respect, model their message, and believe in their ability to impact students.

4. Evaluation --  Effective programs conduct quality program evaluation, and take seriously the lessons learned, especially those that identify program shortcomings.

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) also presented testimony at the hearing. He noted:

Studies have shown that abstinence education is effective in decreasing the number of teen pregnancy and rates of sexually transmitted diseases among youth," said Brownback. "Clearly our current approach to sex education is not working; STD rates among teens are rising, and it is irresponsible of us to silence the abstinence message. We need more funding for abstinence programs, not less. Cutting funding to such valuable programs will only have negative results as we see teens, and even pre-teens, engage in risky sexual behavior.

HHS official Charles Keckler observed:

Abstinence is the only 100 percent effective method to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Through education, mentoring, counseling and peer support, abstinence education services help teens delay the onset of sexual activity and reduce the number of sexual partners they have. The ideal of abstinence programs is to encourage individuals to wait to experience sexual relations within the context of a healthy marriage.

Heritage Foundation Publishes Report Abstinence Program Effectiveness
Robert Rector and Christine C. Kim have recently published, “Abstinence Education: Assessing The Evidence,” which provides proof that abstinence education programs are worth funding with federal tax dollars.

The paper discusses 21 studies of abstinence education effectiveness and found that 16 of those studies reported “statistically significant positive results, such as delayed sexual initiation, and reduced levels of early sexual activity, among youths who have received abstinence education. Five studies did not report any significant positive results.”

The report notes that the federal government spends $1 billion yearly on contraception and “safe-sex” education – 12 times as much as it spends on abstinence education.

“Genuine abstinence education is … crucial to the physical and psycho-emotional well-being of the nation’s youth. In addition to teaching the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage, abstinence programs focus on developing future character traits that prepare youths for future-oriented goals.”

Liberals Want To Defund Abstinence Education
Robert Rector with the Heritage Foundation described Waxman’s hearing as being “likely … the first step to eliminate funding for federal abstinence programs.”

Abstinence education is funded through these programs:

• Title V Abstinence Education grant program, created in the 1996 welfare reform law;
• Community-Based Abstinence Education grant program, created in 2000;
• Title XX Adolescent Family Life program, created in 1981.

TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty offers the following thoughts:

Liberals want to shut down these programs because they’re in bed with Planned Parenthood, SIECUS, and other sex peddlers,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “Sex education, condom distribution, and the selling of abortions are big business for Planned Parenthood. To teach teens to remain abstinent until marriage cuts into their bottom line. Greed trumps true concern about the girls who become pregnant or acquire a sexually transmitted disease (STD), including the human papilloma virus (HPV). We can thank these sex peddlers for the HPV epidemic. In addition, abortions rake in millions each year for Planned Parenthood and other abortionists.

To liberals like Hollywood Henry, nothing will convince him to support abstinence education. He is committed to an ideological viewpoint that supports abortion on demand.