Abstinence-only ed gets a boost from House Dem Dave Obey

Why do we need GOP elected fundnuts when we have the likes of Dave Obey (D-WI), who is promoting bogus, dangerous abstinence-only ed programs in schools by upping funding to the garbage?! What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi -- why is she enabling Obey, who is House Appropriations Committee. Firedoglake's Blue Texan:

Progressives and health care advocates had hoped that when the Democrats took control of the House, one of the first things to get scrapped would be the disastrous abstinence-only education [sic] programs, which blossomed under the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. Their hopes were misplaced. Obey actually increased the funding to the programs, and Nancy Pelosi did nothing to stop him.

...Abstinence-only has been denounced by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association. No studies have ever shown it works, and it's inherently anti-gay. And Henry Waxman's 2004 study exposed fundie talking points embedded in the programs.

The proof is in the pudding. Teen pregnancy is up. STDs among teens are up.

The bible-beating moralists of Bushworld have had their heads in the sand, choosing to believe that virginity pledges, Jesus-head chastity rings and scare seminars on the evils of sex will stop teens from knocking boots. Now we have Obey and Pelosi ready to fund it yet again. Abstinence-only education deprives young people of facts they need to know about contraception and sexual health. The ACLU is all over this BS.

“There is no question that all programs offering young people education or guidance about human sexuality should urge them to delay sexual activity. However, federally-funded programs focusing exclusively on abstinence are at odds with good public health policy and raise serious civil liberties concerns. Congress should not support programs that censor medically accurate information, reinforce gender stereotypes, provide inaccurate or misleading information, promote religion, serve a narrow ideological agenda, and jeopardize the well-being of young people. But despite the overwhelming evidence that abstinence-only programs don’t work, Congress remains in the grip of proponents of this failed policy and seems unable or unwilling to disengage itself.

“Young people deserve the truth. At some point, everyone is faced with important decisions about their sexuality. We do young people no favors by censoring information and failing to give them all the tools they need to make well-informed decisions. More than anything, we want them to have all the facts, and we want them to be safe.”

Seriously -- why do we bother putting Dems in when they cannot even shut down one of the most outlandish domestic giveaways by the Bush Admin to the religious right? This was a no-brainer to deep six. Perhaps someone should send Obey and Pelosi a copy of the documentary The Education of Shelby Knox. It reveals the ignorance perpetuated by these programs in the Texas schools (it's set in Lubbock), and how that "education" has resulted in higher STD rates and teen pregnancies. Perhaps Obey is in favor of those infamous virginity rings as well.

Also:
*  That abstinence-only sex ed is really working, huh?
*  Newsflash: fundies are f*cking before marriage
*  Abstinence ed is really working: oral sex safe and not really sex, say teens
*  Texas teens increasingly knocking boots after abstinence program
*  Score one against abstinence-only ed