Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2013 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) eliminate the abstinence-only education program, (2) rescind unobligated FY 2014 program appropriations, and (3) reprogram such rescinded appropriations for the personal responsibility education program (PREP) for FY2014.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3774 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3774
To amend title V of the Social Security Act to eliminate the
abstinence-only education program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 16, 2013
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Moran, Ms. Moore, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mrs. Capps, and Mr. Farr) 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, and for other purposes.
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 2013''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States has the highest rate of teen
pregnancy among its peers in the developed world. In 2012,
3,952,937 babies were born to teenagers aged 15 to 19 years.
From 2007 to 2011, the birth rates among African-American and
Hispanic teens were more than two times higher than the rate
for White teens. From 2011 to 2012, both the number of births
and the fertility rate for Asian or Pacific Islander women
rose, by 7 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
(2) While young people in the United States ages 15 to 24
make up only 25 percent of the sexually active population, they
acquire about 50 percent of the 19,700,000 new sexually
transmitted infections (STIs) every year. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the rate of
chlamydia diagnoses among persons ages 15-24 in 2011 was four
times higher than the general population. According to the CDC,
young people ages 13 to 24 account for 25 percent of the
estimated 50,000 new HIV infections each year; every month
1,000 teenagers or young adults are infected with HIV. African-
American adolescents ages 13 to 19 years are disproportionately
affected by HIV, accounting for only 15 percent of the
adolescent population, but comprising 67 percent of the
estimated HIV diagnoses in 2011. Since 2008, new HIV cases
specifically among young Black men who have sex with men (MSM)
ages 13 to 24 have increased by 20 percent.
(3) Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have been
discredited by a wide body of evidence, including most notably
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) Programs funded through title V, section 510 of the
Social Security Act are required to adhere to a stigmatizing,
shaming, and stereotyping eight-point definition of
``abstinence education.'' This definition promotes marriage as
the only acceptable family structure; ostracizes lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth; stigmatizes youth who
have been sexually abused; and denies information to sexually
active youth.
(5) Over 100 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. Additionally,
every United States Surgeon General from Dr. Koop to Dr.
Carmona has supported comprehensive sex education. CDC includes
teen pregnancy prevention as one of its top six priorities, a
``winnable battle'' in public health, noting needed support for
evidence-based prevention programs.
(6) Since 1982, the United States has spent over
$1,750,000,000 in Federal funding on abstinence-only-until-
marriage programs that fail to teach teens how to prevent
unintended pregnancy or STIs, including HIV. Particularly as
the Nation continues recovery efforts from the worst economic
disaster since the Great Depression, government funding should
only support evidence-informed programs.
(7) 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.
(8) 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.
(9) 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.
(10) 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.
(11) The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)
funds programs that are required to provide medically accurate
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 2014 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.
SEC. 4. REPROGRAMMING OF ABSTINENCE-ONLY EDUCATION PROGRAM.
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 2014, increased by an amount equal to the
unobligated portion of funds appropriated for fiscal year 2014 under
section 510(d) that are rescinded under subsection (b)''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
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 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 the Subcommittee on Health.
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