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This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, April 24, 2002 |
Contact: | HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343 |
Reauthorization of the abstinence education grant program is a key component of this administration's efforts to enhance child well-being, foster the formation of healthy families, and help teens achieve their full potential. Projects funded under this program promote the health and well-being of adolescents by providing them with the critical information that abstinence from sexual activity is the only 100 percent effective way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Abstinence education is more than saying no to nonmarital sexual activity. These programs help teens formulate positive, achievable goals for their lives, provide them with skills to foster communication with their family and friends on sensitive matters such as sex, and teach them how to resist pressure to engage in risk-taking activities.
Education supporting an abstinence until marriage message is a positive development in our nation's efforts to help adolescents avoid behaviors that could jeopardize their futures. Too many stories of welfare dependence begin with the pregnancy of a young girl who felt pressured to begin a sexual relationship. Abstinence until marriage is a message that we have a responsibility to deliver to all young people, and one that most of them want to hear.
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