Congressional hearing on ab-only

The time has come for the Democrats to correct course and stop government funding of ineffective abstinence-only programs. How can congressional leaders continue to ignore the public health consensus about science-based programs?

Both the members of Congress and the lone public health researcher who spoke in support of abstinence-only at the recent Congressional hearing were scrambling for evidence.

A congressional hearing Wednesday by the House oversight committee that promised to "assess the evidence" on abstinence-only demonstrated that social conservatives still shape the public debate on sexuality education.

On Wednesday, for the first time, a Congressional committee heard public health experts and young people testify about the effects of abstinence-only programs.

Max Siegel is 23 years old and has been living with HIV since he was diagnosed at 17. His life was forever changed as a result of abstinence only education, and yesterday he testified at the first ever Congressional oversight hearing on abstinence-only.

Senator Henry Waxman tomorrow convenes the first-ever Congressional hearings on abstinence-only education. Read an excerpt from Dr. John Santelli's testimony.

Ten leading scientists send an open letter to Congress urging them to discontinue funding for failed abstinence-only programs and offering to advise Congress on an alternative.