Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2010 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the abstinence-only education program; (2) rescind unobligated FY2010 program appropriations; and (3) reprogram such rescinded appropriations for the personal responsibility education program (PREP) for FY2011-FY2014.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6283 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6283
To amend title V of the Social Security Act to eliminate the
abstinence-only education program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 29, 2010
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Slaughter, and Ms.
DeGette) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title V of the Social Security Act to eliminate the
abstinence-only education program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete
Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy
rates in the developed world. Between 1990 and 2005, the United
States teenage pregnancy rate declined 41 percent. For the
first time in more than a decade, the rate rose 3 percent in
2006. At the same time, teens were receiving less information
about contraception in schools and their use of contraceptives
was declining.
(2) While young people in the United States aged 15 to 25
make up only \1/4\ of the sexually active population, they
contract about \1/2\ of the 19,000,000 sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) which occur annually. Young people ages 13 to
29 account for nearly \1/4\ of the estimated 56,300 new HIV
infections each year. Every hour, 1 young person is infected
with HIV. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention estimated that 1 in 4 young women between the ages
of 14 and 19 and nearly 1 in 2 African-American young women are
infected with at least one of the four most common STIs.
(3) Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have been
discredited by a wide body of evidence, including most recently
in a congressionally mandated study in 2007 which found these
programs ineffective in stopping or delaying teen sex, reducing
the number of reported sexual partners, reducing reported rates
of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections, or otherwise
beneficially impacting young people's sexual behavior. The
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences
recommends the termination of such programs because they
represent ``poor fiscal and public health policy.''
(4) Leading medical and public health professional groups,
including the American Medical Association, the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Adolescent Health and
Medicine, the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, the American Nurses Association, the American
Public Health Association, and the American Psychological
Association, oppose an abstinence-only-until-marriage approach
as antithetical to the principles of science. These
organizations all stress the need for sexuality education that
includes messages about abstinence and also provide young
people with information about contraception for the prevention
of teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other STIs.
(5) Since 1996, the United States has spent over
$1,500,000,000 in Federal funding on abstinence-only-until-
marriage programs that fail to teach teens how to prevent
unintended pregnancy or STIs, including HIV. Particularly
during the Nation's worst economic disaster since the Great
Depression, government funding should only support evidence-
based programs.
(6) According to the results of a 2005-2006 nationally
representative survey of United States adults published in the
Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, more than 8 in 10
(82 percent) of those polled, regardless of political ideology,
support comprehensive sex education that is medically accurate
and age-appropriate and includes information about both
abstinence and contraception for protection against unintended
pregnancy and STIs, including HIV.
(7) There is strong evidence that more comprehensive
approaches to sex education help young people both to withstand
the pressures to have sex too soon and to have healthy,
responsible, and mutually protective relationships when they do
become sexually active. More comprehensive sex education has
been found to be effective in delaying sexual intercourse,
increasing contraceptive use, and reducing the number of
partners among teens.
(8) Strong evidence indicates that sex education programs
that promote both abstinence and the use of contraception does
not increase sexual behavior. Studies show that when teens are
educated about and have access to contraception, levels of
contraception use at first intercourse increase while levels of
sex stay the same.
(9) Teens who receive sex education that includes both
abstinence and contraception are more likely than those who
receive abstinence-only-until-marriage messages to delay sexual
activity and use contraception when they do become sexually
active. Research from the United States shows that teens who
practice contraception consistently in their first sexual
relationship are more likely to continue doing so than those
who use no method or who use a method inconsistently.
(10) The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)
funds programs that are required to provide information on both
abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy
and STIs, including HIV/AIDS, with a substantial emphasis on
both abstinence and contraceptive use. Programs must also
address adulthood preparation topics such as healthy
relationships, adolescent development, financial literacy,
educational and career success, and healthy life skills. Funded
programs are required to be evidence-based or replicate
elements of evidence-based programs that have been proven on
the basis of rigorous scientific research to change behavior.
SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF ABSTINENCE-ONLY EDUCATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Title V of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 701
et seq.) is amended by striking section 510.
(b) Rescission.--Amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2010 under
section 510(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 710(d)) (as in
effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act) that are
unobligated as of the date of enactment of this Act are rescinded.
(c) Reprogram of Eliminated Abstinence-Only Funds for the Personal
Responsibility Education Program (PREP).--Section 513(f) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 713(f)) is amended by striking ``for each of
fiscal years 2010 through 2014'' and inserting ``for fiscal year 2010,
and $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Energy and Commerce
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to House Appropriations
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