Tell Officials to Take Abstinence-Only Funding Out of Illinois’ Budget!

April 24, 2007

Take Action: Contact your State Representative TODAY and tell him/her not to fund misleading and inaccurate sexuality education curricula that place youth at risk for HIV transmission.

Click here to send your message.

Background: Two abstinence-only curricula created and distributed by a Glenview-based organization called Project Reality contain misleading and inaccurate information on the effectiveness of contraceptives, HIV, and other STDs. The state budget currently being considered by the Illinois General Assembly includes $1.2 million for Project Reality. By funding these initiatives, our state is failing to provide young people with the science-based, age-appropriate sexuality education they need to stay healthy. Please take action to ensure tax-payer money is not used to support ineffective and potentially harmful programs for youth.

Help Protect Women and Youth – Tell Congress to Support the REAL and PATHWAY Acts

Take Action: Call your member of Congress and ask him/her to sign-on as a co-sponsor to the REAL Act and PATHWAY Act. To find out who your U.S. representative is, visit
www.vote-smart.org.

Leave This Message: “Please become a co-sponsor of the PATHWAY ACT, H.R. 1713 and the REAL Act H.R. 1653.”

Background: The Prevention Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth (PATHWAY) Act of 2007, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 1713 by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), is designed to develop an HIV prevention strategy addressing the vulnerabilities of women and girls around the world. Additionally, the act removes provisions from current law requiring that one-third of all HIV prevention funding be spent on abstinence-only programs. Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) has already signed on as a co-sponsor. Click here to learn more about the PATHWAY Act.

The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act of 2007, also sponsored by Reps. Lee and Shays and introduced as H.R. 1653, allocates federal funds for the introduction of comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education programs in schools on a national level. Despite a recent congressionally-funded study demonstrating that abstinence-only programs do not delay the average onset of sexual activity, the federal government has neglected to fund programs that include the comprehensive, science-based information that young people need to safeguard their health. Illinois members of congress Jan Schakowsky and Rahm Emanuel have already signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. Click here to learn more about the REAL Act.

Responsible Education About Life Act

Protection Agagainst Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act

Illinois Caucus for Resposible Sex Education

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)