Abstinence-only programs implemented under welfare reform are incompatible with research on effective sexuality education.

Abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs receive more than $100 million annually in government funds, most of it stemming from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. There is currently no evidence that any of these programs, which promote sexual abstinence and restrict information about contraception, actually achieve their intended purposes. On the other hand, there is ample evidence that comprehensive sexuality education programs, which include information about both abstinence and contraception, can be effective. We argue that public monies should be expended on programs with proven efficacy and not on those that promote ideologies that are not shared by the majority of Americans.