Just as the Center for Disease Control announced an explosion in the number of sexually-transmitted diseases among America's young people, Illinois has discovered that after twenty years, it can't afford to include abstinence education in it's state budget.
In what can only be seen as another maneuver to set public policy from the Governor's office, Illinois' Department of Human Services recently informed Project Reality -- the state's key abstinence education provider -- that the non-profit group has been eliminated from the state budget.
Despite assurances from the four key legislative leaders and the IL Department of Human Services earlier this year, Project Reality's expected $1.2 million for this school year has not yet arrived, and as each day passes, the non-profit group's future is shakier.
"As it stands today, I cannot predict the future of abstinence education in a state which first made it available to its young people and their families," Project Reality's chairman and CEO Kathleen Sullivan said. "For some this hiatus could become a real tragedy."
Project Reality has been forced to lay off staff at their Glenview office, and according to a letter to the Department of Human Services from Project Reality's attorney Joel Oster, Project Reality has been forced to suspend its services to Illinois students. Without the funding promised via state contract in May, 120,000 students will not be taught the value of delaying sex until marriage.
"Just as Project Reality's services have made a positive difference, Project Reality's absence will inevitably make a negative difference in the lives of thousands of young people," Oster, Alliance Defense Fund's senior litigation counsel, wrote in a November 1 letter to Governor Blagojevich. Oster concluded the letter saying his client is "prepared to go to court to defend its business dealings."
Earlier this year, a legislative measure to expand comprehensive sex ed was defeated by conservative Democrats in the General Assembly. Clout-heavy lobbying groups such as Planned Parenthood and Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health oppose abstinence education and conveyed their frustration about the defeat of SB 715, which would have increased the number of school-based clinics and comprehensive sex ed programs . They insist parents want their children to be fully informed about sexual behaviors and contraceptives.
"The fact is, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs do not work. The fact is, the vast majority of American parents support comprehensive sex education," Jodi Peterson of Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and Steve Trombley, CEO of Planned Parenthood Chicago wrote in a 2005 Sun-Times letter to the editor.
"According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, most parents want their children to receive a variety of information on subjects, including contraception and condom use, STIs, sexual orientation, safer sex practices, abortion, communications and coping skills, and the emotional aspects of sexual relationships," they wrote.
Of course Planned Parenthood would encourage more sex, abstinence educations supporters say. Their billion dollar a year business thrives on illicit sexual activity. True abstinence education programs help young people to develop an understanding of commitment, fidelity, and intimacy that will serve them well as the foundations of healthy marital life in the future.
"Real abstinence education is essential to reducing out-of-wedlock childbearing, preventing sexually transmitted diseases, and improving emotional and physical well-being among the nation's youth," Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector wrote.
Without the $1.2 million in state funds Project Reality is depending upon to sustain this year's programs, that's a message 120,000 Illinois students will not be hearing.