Gov. Jim Doyle will refuse federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage education, said a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Family Services Tuesday.
In a letter early this week outlining the program's limitations, the Wisconsin Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association requested that Doyle ""do no harm"" and turn down funds from the Special Programs for Regional and National Significance.
Under SPRANS, teachers would be required to exclusively promote abstinence as ""the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other associated health problems,"" according to a WFPRHA statement.
""The issue is it requires abstinence-only education, and really the best model for preventing pregnancy and STDs is having multiple approaches,"" said Stephanie Marquis, spokesperson for the Department of Heath and Family Services. ""It's not really a moral decision for us, it's about [people's] health.""
Wisconsin will continue to sponsor abstinence education programs as well as contraception and STI programs. The goal of WFPRHA is to clear up inaccuracies about STI prevention and contraception.
""The CDC and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recommend that sexuality education and HIV-prevention education include content that is age-appropriate, medically accurate, updated periodically to reflect scientific developments, consistent with community standards and is appropriate for students' developmental levels and cultural backgrounds,"" said WFPRHA President Jackie Bodden in a statement Tuesday.
Teaching abstinence exclusively has been proven ineffective, according to UW-Madison sociology professor John DeLamater.
""I think it's a very worthwhile goal to reduce teenage pregnancy and reduce STDs, but recently [abstinence-only education has been proven to] have no impact on behavior whatsoever,"" he said.
""All the millions that have been spent have not delayed someone from initiating intercourse,"" he added.
DeLamater said as many as 12 percent of 13-year-olds have had sexual intercourse.
""When you have a population of high school students, you have some fairly sexually experienced people in that group,"" he said. ""When a teacher comes in there and starts with the premise that we're going to teach you abstinence-only sex education, you've lost the battle before you start.""
DeLamater said he believes the main problems lie in the implementation of these programs.
""In general, these curriculums have been presented by volunteers with no special training in public health or teenage sexuality or even education,"" he said. ""The implementation has probably varied from fatally flawed to pretty good, but across the board it doesn't work.""
Wisconsin joins California, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in refusing SPRANS funds.
