abstinence-only programs

December 1, 2009, marks President Obama’s first World AIDS Day in the White House and the first World AIDS Day for the newly elected Congress. The time is right for a frank assessment of his first year in the fight against global AIDS as President. This analysis focuses on the funding and policy decisions the Administration has made since taking office in January 2009, and assesses the human impact of those decisions.

Over 80 percent of ab-only curricula provides misleading, medically inaccurate information about contraception and sex, yet the Senate finance committee voted to fund these programs. What part of "they don't work" is hard to understand?

The real goal of abstinence-only programs is not to prevent teen pregnancies or STDs and or even to prevent premarital sex - it's to make sure that all people get married.

With a narrow focus on teen pregnancy prevention, will new sex ed programs provide contraceptive info while preserving abstinence-only tactics of slut-shaming and virginity-fetishizing?

Follow Amanda Marcotte on Twitter, @amandamarcotte

RH Reality Check's Laura Janoff spoke to Jessica Valenti about liberal parents, schoolgirl fetishes, and women's sexuality unleashed.

After months of negotiation and attempts at cooperation, North
Carolina’s state assembly is finally taking a step in the right
direction in regard to their policies on sexuality education.

Preventing teen pregnancy is incredibly important. But unintended pregnancy among teens is not the only sexual and reproductive health issue facing our nation's youth.

My daughter could only get extra credit if she attended an abstinence-only-until-marriage program. And despite dozens of my phone calls, the school board doesn't care.

At the Mississippi Department of Human Services' summit entitled "Abstinence Works: Let's Talk About It," we didn't talk about abstinence, but we sure did chant, cheer, dance, pray and sing about it.