NARAL Pro-Choice America Interim President Elizabeth Cavendish said, “President Bush and his friends in Congress continue their drive to test at any cost the theory that ignorance is bliss. But as in so many other areas, their refusal to accept reality will have disastrous consequences. Young people deserve complete and accurate information about their reproductive health, including abstinence, pregnancy prevention, and STD/HIV prevention. NARAL Pro-Choice America will do everything in its power to ensure that the American public is educated about the Bush Administration’s irresponsible policies.”

Abstinence-only programs, which censor information about contraception, have never proven effective and may actually result in riskier behavior by teenagers. By failing to provide information about contraception beyond failure rates, and, in some cases, by providing misinformation, these programs deny adolescents complete and accurate information and put them at risk of pregnancy and STDs.

Responsible sex education programs, which include information about both abstinence and contraception, have demonstrated positive results such as delayed initiation of sex, reduced frequency of sex, and increased contraceptive use. However, there is currently no federal funding earmarked for comprehensive sex education programs.