Thank You, Mr. President

[Content Note: War on agency.]

With little fanfare, President Obama has eliminated from his proposed budget for 2017 a $10 million-a-year Department of Health and Human Services grant that funds abstinence-only sex education in public schools:

At the same time, according to a statement by The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S., the President's budget increased funds for comprehensive sex-ed programs that actually do work.

SIECUS is grateful for President Obama's leadership in seeking to end abstinence-only-until-marriage funding once and for all. After three decades and nearly $2 billion in federal spending wasted on this failed approach, the President's proposed budget increases support for programs and efforts that seek to equip young people with the skills they need to ensure their lifelong sexual health and well-being.

SIECUS also applauds the President's proposed $4 million increase for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, helping communities implement evidence-informed and innovative strategies to support the sexual health of our nation's youth.

The continued funding for the Division of Adolescent and School Health and request for future Personal Responsibility Education Program funding demonstrates this administration's commitment to secure the right to quality sexuality education for young people.

...Congress has until October 1st to debate the budget, but hopefully this is something we'll get through.

We have known for more than a decade that abstinence-only sex ed is both ineffective and typically full of misinformation and outright lies. We also know that it is a real fucker for people who have survived or go on to survive sexual abuse.

I couldn't be more delighted that President Obama has eliminated this grant, and I desperately hope that it will survive as the proposed budget makes its way through Congress.