Date: September 30, 2008
Section: Front page
Abstinence education up for vote
Program's opponents: Federal rules too strict By: MEG HECKMAN Monitor staff State leaders will soon decide if New Hampshire should continue to accept federal money that subsidizes abstinence-only education for teens. At issue is a 2-year-old program at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester called "Wait Training." Organizers say it's popular among students and has become a model for health educators nationwide. It's also been decidedly uncontroversial, until now. "We have not encountered one single iota of opposition," said Nancy Malow, program coordinator for the hospital's office of fertility health education services. The program's contract is due for a $90,000, one-year extension, which is expected to be considered by the Executive Council sometime next month. That vote has placed the hospital in the middle of a national debate over how public schools should address sexuality. Supporters of abstinence-only education have launched a letter writing campaign lobbying executive counselors to support the program. Planned Parenthood, meanwhile, wants the state to reject the federal money, saying the rules for spending it have become too strict in recent years. In the past, Planned Parenthood found enough common ground with conservatives to create federally funded programs that stressed abstinence but also provided teens with information to protect themselves. "The best way to ensure you don't get pregnant or you don't get any sexually transmitted disease is to remain abstinent," said Dawn Touzin, vice president of policy and government affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. "But there's information that you should have in order to be fully educated in aspects of your sexuality." Under federal law, subsidized programs must teach that a "mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity." Programs must also teach that sex outside of marriage carries "harmful psychological and physical effects" and that bearing children out of wedlock is harmful to the child, the child's parents and society. The effectiveness of contraceptives may be addressed, but the money can't be used for programs that teach students how contraceptives work. Curricula vary from state to state. The program used by Catholic Medical Center is based on a model created in Colorado. Most of the lessons focus on self-esteem and decision making, says Paul Mertzic, director of community health services. "It teaches a lot on relationship-building, refusal skills, a variety of other skills that help children make appropriate choices," he said. "Universally we're seeing a shift or a move towards a better understanding of abstinence only." Continuing to accept the money doesn't bar New Hampshire schools from using other, more comprehensive health curricula. Some districts may choose to combine information from the Wait Training program with information about contraceptives from another source. "There are those who are for abstinence-only education, and there are those who are for a more comprehensive approach," said Lisa Bunjo, bureau chief for the state's Community Health Services Bureau. "In the local areas, I believe they do a combination." Still, executive councilors have questions. The council has yet to see the finished contract proposal, but some members want to make sure school districts have options when it comes to teaching about sex. "I think there should be room for abstinence-only education and there should be room for Planned Parenthood education," said Councilor Beverly Hollingworth, a Hampton Democrat. "I don't think they should be exclusive of each other. . . . I don't understand why it can't coexist."
Copyright, 2008, Concord Monitor
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