Congresswoman Capps Testimony on the Importance of Comprehensive Sex Education and the Ineffectiveness of Abstinence-Only Education

Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) testimony for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearing "Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs: Assessing the Evidence" as prepared for delivery:

"Thank you, Chairman Waxman, for inviting me to participate today.

"I sit before you today both as a colleague in the House and a registered nurse. Long before I entered the halls of Congress, I worked as a school nurse and health educator.

"My responsibilities then were to make decisions that best met the health needs of my students and school district, much as they are now to make decisions that best represent the needs of my constituents and the American people. As a public health nurse, it was very easy for me to reinforce that prevention is the most important component of health education. Teaching young people about healthy behaviors, including the risks associated with unprotected sex and teen pregnancy, were important messages that needed to be conveyed.

"I know from my firsthand experience what does and doesn't work with youth. That is why I promoted comprehensive health education for students, including information about reproduction and decision making associated with sex. Mitigating the risk of sexually transmitted disease and prevent pregnancy are important life skills teens must know. Withholding this information from them is doing a horrible disservice and one that runs contrary to my training and education as a public health nurse, which mandate that I always act in the best interests of my patients - in this case, students.

"I have been part of many curriculum review panels at both the school site and the school district level. These panels always included parents, teachers, administrators, board members and health professionals, such as pediatricians from the community.

"As a school nurse, I had the priviledge of directing a program for pregnant and parenting teens which allowed them to stay in a regular high school with their peers. Part of this program was, of course, to provide day care for the babies of these young parents so that they could attend class. But more importantly, the teen parenting program provided education on life skills, with an emphasis on parenting, as well as education on how to prevent or delay further teen pregnancies. After all, teen parents are all too likely to have a second birth relatively soon - about one fourth of teenage mothers have a second child within 24 months of the first birth.

"Mr. Chairman, according to a 2005 CDC study, 46.8% of all high school students reported having had sexual intercourse. For high school seniors, this figure reaches 63.1%. The bottom line is, as much as parents and teachers alike stress abstinence among teens, sexual activity is a reality for many young people.

"So what can we do to confront this reality? Some say that abstinence-only education is the answer. But claiming that the only proper information to share with teens, even teens who are already parents, is abstinence-only and nothing else, means withholding scientifically-based medical information. This is completely unrealistic.

"Of course abstinence should be at the core of any comprehensive sexual education curriculum - practicing 100% complete abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy. For many young people, this message reinforces positive behaviors, but it is not realistic to expect such behavior from all teens. So the best thing we can do to protect young people from the negative consequences of unsafe sex is to give them the information they need. We know this works.

"A National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy study revealed that over 40% of comprehensive education programs that were evaluated delayed the initiation of sex and more than ­60% reduced unprotected sex. Furthermore, no comprehensive program hastened the initiation of sex or increased the frequency of sex. Conversely, just last year, a federally-funded evaluation of the Title V abstinence-only programs conducted by Mathematica Policy Research Inc. found no evidence that these programs increased rates of sexual abstinence.

"Scientific study after scientific study has shown that these programs are ineffective and often contain false information. I urge us not add to the 1.3 billion in Federal dollars that have been invested over the past decade in programs that are ineffective and outright false.

"I am proud that my own state of California has rejected these dollars from day one. In fact, California is the only state that has never applied for and never received Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funding. California would have been eligible for over $7 million in Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funding in Fiscal Year 2007, but the state chose not to apply for these funds due to the extraordinary restrictions upon how the money must be spent.

"This was based on the state's previous experience in the 1990's with a state-funded abstinence-only education program that proved to be ineffective. Evaluation of the program proved that youth who were given abstinence-only education were not less likely than youths in control groups to report a pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection.

"California isn't the only state to draw these conclusions. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment conducted a 2004 evaluation of abstinence-only-until marriage programs. The evaluation found that there were "no changes noted for participants' actual or intended behavior; such as whether they planned to wait until marriage to have sex."

"The evaluation also revealed negative changes in attitudes. After participating in abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, students surveyed were less likely to respond that the teachers and staff cared about them and significantly fewer students felt they "have the right to refuse to have sex with someone."

Researchers therefore concluded that, "rather than focusing on Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage, data suggests that including information on contraceptive use may be more effective at decreasing teen pregnancies." This evaluation is, unfortunately, all too typical of the result of abstinence-only education programs.

"Mr. Chairman, as of January 2008, 17 states have rejected Title V abstinence-only funding based on sound public health concerns and because Governors have deemed the programs to be inconsistence with their state's values or public health mandates. I commend these states for making smart decisions regarding the health of their young people and listening to parents who want more comprehensive education for their children.

"Recent polling reveals that a vast majority of adults support a comprehensive approach to sexuality education. According to a study conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 78% of California residents support programs that teach about abstinence as well as how to obtain and use contraceptives. Furthermore, residents believe that the federal government should pay for this instruction.

"That is why I am proud to be a cosponsor of legislation such as the Responsible Education About Life, or REAL Act and the Prevention First Act. It is in the best public health interest of our entire society to ensure that students are receiving scientifically and medically accurate information that will enable them to make the healthiest lifestyle decisions.

"Furthermore, I believe that we must discontinue any federal funding for abstinence-only education programs. They have been a waste of taxpayer dollars and have produced no positive results.

"As a Member of Congress and a registered nurse, this is the position that I encourage my colleagues to adopt, as we have a responsibility protect the public health. We should follow the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) that:

"Congress, as well as other federal, state, and local policymakers, eliminate the requirements that public funds be used for abstinence-only education, and that states and local school districts implement and continue to support age-appropriate comprehensive sex education and condom availability."

"Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today."

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