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21 Wis. Women's L.J. 291 (2006)
Let's Talk about Sex Honestly: Why Federal Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Education Programs Discriminate against Girls, are Bad Public Policy, and Should Be Overturned

handle is hein.journals/wiswo21 and id is 295 raw text is: LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX HONESTLY: WHY FEDERAL ABSTINENCE-ONLY-UNTIL-MARRIAGE EDUCATION PROGRAMS DISCRIMINATE AGAINST GIRLS, ARE BAD PUBLIC POLICY, AND SHOULD BE OVERTURNED Danielle LeClair INTRODUCTION In our current era, when teen pregnancy rates-while declining-are still the highest in the developed world,2 and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including the deadly HIV virus are either holding steady or increasing,3 the United States government should be taking steps to combat these issues. Teaching comprehensive sex education to students that includes both contraception and abstinence as important components tackles these devastating social and health problems by educating young people about how to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STIs. However, a recent government- sanctioned trend promotes and funds abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (hereinafter abstinence-only programs) in elementary and secondary schools. These programs are ineffective and problematic on many levels.4 They attempt to control the sexual behavior of students through shame, guilt, and fear by refusing to provide information about contraception except to discuss failure rates; by teaching students medically inaccurate information; and often by 1. J.D., University of Wisconsin; M.A., University of Wisconsin; M.A. Johns Hopkins University. The author would like to express her gratitude to many people for their assistance with this Article. Many thanks to Autumn Nero for her fantastic editing and suggestions on this project; Nancy Sapiro and Sara Ainsworth from the Northwest Women's Law Center for their insightful feedback and mentoring; and the office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee for the research assistance it provided. The author would also like to thank her wonderful family and friends for their support during this long but worthwhile research and writing process. 2. ALAN GuTMACHER INST., TEENAGERS' SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 1 (2002), available at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fbjteens.pdf. 3. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION, TRENDS IN REPORTABLE SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES IN THE UNITED STATES, 2004: NATIONAL DATA ON CHLAMYDIA, GONORRHEA, AND SYPHILIS, available at http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/04pdf/trends2004.pdf (2004); HENRY J. KAISER FAMILY FOUND., HIV/AIDS POLICY FACT SHEET: THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC IN THE UNITED STATES (2005), available at http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/ Fact-Sheet-The-HIV-AIDS-Epidemic-in-the-United-States-2005-Update.pdf. 4. See MARTHA E. KEMPNER, SEXUALITY INFO. & EDUC. COUNCIL OF THE U.S, TOWARD A SEXUALLY HEALTHY AMERICA: ABSTINENCE-ONLY-UNTIL-MARRIAGE PROGRAMS THAT TRY TO KEEP OUR YOUTH SCARED CHASTE (2001), available at http://www.siecus. org/pubs/tsha scaredchaste.pdf.

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