Abstinence funding question cleared up

by David Safier
I was trying to figure out the other day if Napolitano actually refused abstinence education funding, since articles about Brewer restarting the program talked about a continuation. Howard Fischer cleared the whole thing up.

Programs for teens had continued with leftover funds, but another program "to promote abstinence in youngsters in grades six through 12" was stopped, even though there were funds to continue it.

Another question cleared up: though the state has to kick in matching funds to get the federal dollars, the money has been picked up by private groups, so it doesn't come out of education coffers.

None of this, however, deals with the central issue. Does abstinence education which doesn't include valid information about contraception help students? Most studies indicate it doesn't. So "free to the state" is still a bad price if the product is defective.