President George W. Bush"s new budget proposal is expected to provide significantly increased funding for sex-education programs that teach only abstinence as a method of protection against sexually-transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

Research acknowledged by the surgeon general has found that programs that teach only abstinence are not as effective as programs that teach both abstinence and contraception. The more effective programs emphasize that abstinence is the only way to completely eliminate the risks of contracting sexually-transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies but they go on to teach that those who choose to have sex should use contraceptives and condoms. Because these programs are more effective, they should be emphasized and given priority, in terms of financial and human resources, over abstinence-only teaching methods.

Because some adolescents will have sex despite what they are taught, any sex-education program should also include information about contraceptives. Programs that teach abstinence only ignore the fact that using contraceptives helps lower the risk when compared to unprotected sex. They ignore the fact that contraceptives better than using nothing at all.

While Congress was debating the education reform bill (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001), Bush made it very clear that only educational programs scientifically-proven to be the most effective method would receive funding. Though these comments were specifically directed at programs teaching traditional academic subjects (i.e. reading and mathematics) one would assume that such a result-oriented criteria for receiving federal fund would apply to sex-education programs as well. Unfortunately, this is not the case as Bush and other government officials propose to increase spending on the abstinence-only, scientifically-disproven program.

When it comes to something as significant as the reproductive health of our nation"s adolescents, it is important that they be educated with the most effective methods available one that presents them with all the facts. As such, sex-education programs that teach both abstinence and contraception should be emphasized over those that teach just abstinence. Bush"s proposed budget change with regard to reproductive education, a change that will encourage educators to withhold information from their students, clearly falls short of his intention of a system of empirically proven education that leave no child behind.