I was recently shocked by the headline of an article in a University of Wisconsin- Madison student newspaper that read: Rising price of Pill hard to swallow for students. I shouldn’t really say I was shocked; these types of headlines are becoming more and more commonplace throughout the University of Wisconsin system. But as you can imagine, the story was about student complaints over rising birth control pill costs, and it was prominently displayed on the front page, above the fold of the paper. I’d like to share some of the words of the concerned female students quoted in the article:

One student said, “My insurance company was paying enough of the cost that I used to only pay $15, and now I have to pay $30.” And another, “These heightened costs may be financially inconvenient for female students across campus…“I don’t make a lot of money, and birth control is something that you have to have.” “It’s another monthly bill I don’t need.” Lastly, my favorite: “For some people this will be a pretty significant burden, for others it will mean some choices will have to be made,” she said. “For some people it may mean that they have [to use] other alternatives.”

Imagine that, our youth now feel they have a right, not an option, a full-fledged right to receive inexpensive birth control. Where might they have developed that idea? Could it be a generation of children passing through Wisconsin’s Human Growth and Development courses that highlight so called ‘safe sex’ instead of abstinence? Could it be that more than 30 years of teaching ‘safe sex’ to our teenagers has resulted in endemic levels of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and emotional stress; levels that are robbing our young people of their future.

Last year, Wisconsin took a step forward in abstinence education by passing a law that mandates school districts that offer Human Growth and Development, or sex-ed, to teach abstinence as the preferred behavior choice for unmarried students and as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The bill, while less strong than we would like, was a victory for abstinence education and is good legislation for Wisconsin’s youth.

However, that victory may be short lived. Last week, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services said Governor Jim Doyle will refuse federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage education. According to a March 1st article in UW-Madison’s The Daily Cardinal, Doyle is taking his cues from a letter he received from the Wisconsin Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. In the letter, WFPRHA requested that Doyle “do no harm” and turn down funds from the Special Programs for Regional and National Significance, the federal program that distributes funds for abstinence education. That’s a direct quote: Do no harm. Obviously the family planning advocates have a funny definition of harm.

You see friends; most critics of abstinence education programs have stated that evidence suggests abstinence programs do not decrease sexual activity among adolescents. The article announcing governor Doyle’s decision to reject the federal money cited as a reason for his doing so a study commissioned by Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat representative from California.

This study, known as the Waxman Report, claimed that abstinence programs are not effective in delaying sexual activity or increasing knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases; however, errors and inconsistencies in the report severely call into question both the motives for the report and its accuracy. Further, peer-reviewed research as well as a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform report from October 2006 contradicts the conclusion of the Waxman report.

Yet, in Wisconsin we have family planning organizations influencing the governor to reject federal funding for proven abstinence education programs on the basis of this flawed report. Friends, this is troubling indeed. Although the governor is passing up on $600,000 federal dollars, some $300,000 that goes to community groups in Wisconsin each year in abstinence funding from other federal grants won't be affected by Doyle's decision.

Thankfully, Wisconsin law still requires school districts providing human development education to create curriculum that presents "abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior in relationship to all sexual activity for unmarried" students. And that’s a good message. Instead of spending less on abstinence education in Wisconsin, we ought to be spending more – and by doing so, we’d be investing more in the futures of young people across the state, including young women in college.

If you are wondering what you can do, why not call the governor at 608-266-1212 and let him know what you think of his decision to reject funding for abstinence education in Wisconsin.

This is Rocco DeFilippis on behalf of Julaine Appling, for The Family Research Institute of Wisconsin reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”