Temporary reprieve
Congress extends abstinence-education funding for three months, but future in doubt
On July 11, the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to extend funding for abstinence education for three months – until the end of the current fiscal year. Since the bill was previously passed by the Senate, it now goes to the White House for the President's signature.
Section 510 of Title V of the Social Security Act – established in 1996 – allows money for abstinence-only education to be distributed to states that apply for it. Ever since Congress failed to act on the President's budget reauthorization proposal in 2002, Title V funding has been extended only by a series of limited reauthorizations. Current funding was set to expire on June 30. The three-month extension provides little time for lawmakers to save the program. "We applaud the extension for Title V state abstinence-education funding passed today by Congress and thank them for protecting our children, if only temporarily," Linda Klepacki, Focus on the Family's analyst for sexual health, told the Christian Post. Klepacki has asked parents and sexual health teachers to urge federal lawmakers to support abstinence-until-marriage education funding beyond the three-month
extension.
Read the rest of the story here: California Catholic Daily
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"In Cordibus Jesu et Mariae"
