New York state isn't waiting to stop funding abstinence-only sex education programs.

New York state isn't waiting to stop funding abstinence-only sex education programs.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/21/2007-09-21_new_york_state_holds_out_on_abstinenceon.html

Officials announced this week that state money will now go solely to programs that offer more comprehensive information about preventing pregnancy and sexual health.

New York state Health Commissioner Richard Daines, in a statement on the department's Web site, stated that "The Bush administration's Abstinence-Only program is an example of a failed national health care policy directive, based on ideology rather than on sound scientific-based evidence that must be the cornerstone of good public health care policy."

Since 1998, the state had receieved up to $3.7 million annually in federal money earmarked for abstinence-only programs. An additional $2.6 million in state money was given to the programs on a yearly basis.

Starting October 1, the state money will be funneled into sex education programs that provide a full range of information about preventing pregnancy and disease.

State officials decided in July not to reapply for federal money, and the mainly religious organizations that provided the abstinence-based programs were told their fuding would not be renewed.

"We're very unhappy," said John Graham of Catholic Charities in Onondaga County, one of the organizations that received the federal funding. "We were having a pretty effective program with the families and children we were working with," he said. "And now, we’re not able to do that."

Health Department spokesperson Claudia Hutton said, "We want to invest in programs with a better track record, that will acknowledge that there are many viewpoints about sex."