Liberals Promote Condom Education Bill
by Keith Peters, Washington, D.C., correspondent

It's called "comprehensive sex ed," but the approach really sells our young people short.

Liberals want money for what's known as "comprehensive sex ed"—that is, teaching kids how to use condoms. They're backing legislation promoting the idea: the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act. But not everyone agrees the bill is "responsible."

Liberals, of course, do. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who is a co-sponsor, said it would provide federal money for sex education, including both abstinence and contraception.

"It's really time to get 'real' about the flaws of abstinence-only-until marriage programs," Lee said. "It's time to get 'real' about public opinions which overwhelmingly support comprehensive sexuality education."

Another liberal Democrat, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said it reflects diverse viewpoints.

"It brings sex education up to date in a way that will reflect the serious issues and the real life situations that millions of young people find themselves in," Lautenberg said.

But pro-family experts like Peter Sprigg, the senior director of policy studies at the Family Research Council, say the bill is irresponsible because it involves a dangerous assumption.

"(The assumption is) that young people will engage in sexual activity—and that's a very fatalistic presumption for us to adopt," Sprigg said.

He also said we should have higher aspirations for our young people.

"We should hold up to them the ideal of abstinence before marriage, because it's clear that that is the lifestyle that will be best suited to protect both their physical and their emotional health," Sprigg said.

He said comprehensive sex education does not protect young people from all of the consequences of sexual activity. For example, birth control may reduce the number of unintended pregnancies but does not necessarily protect against sexually transmitted diseases.

Kristen Hansen of Care Net—a group which helps to equip pregnancy centers nationwide—called the legislation "a real loser" for young people and said it lines the pockets of groups that end up promoting sexual activity among our youth. The bill would provide $206 million per year to states for comprehensive sex ed.

TAKE ACTION
Please contact your representative and senators and insist that they oppose the REAL Act. This bill does a disservice to our young people—sending a confusing message that could very well prove to be dangerous for them.

For help in contacting your members of Congress, please see the CitizenLink Action Center.

In addition, there is considerable information on abstinence education available on the Focus on Social Issues Web site.