Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson revealed that $17.1 million in community-based abstinence education grants have been given to 49 communities to carry out abstinence-only sex education programs for teenagers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention almost half of all high school students were sexually active in 1999.
Surgeon General David Satcher recently released a report urging contraception distribution in schools, citing a lack of scientific data to prove that abstinence-only education works. The comprehensive report surveyed a wide range of sources and ultimately concluded that thorough sex education programs are vital to reducing the wide range of public health problems associated with unprotected sex.
