Lautenberg, Menendez Offer Comprehensive Approach To Reduce Teen Pregnancy

Lautenberg, Menendez Offer Comprehensive Approach To Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Abortions

Contact: Alex Formuzis (202) 224-7340
Tuesday, July 25, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and abortions in the United States, Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today offered an amendment on the Senate floor to fund programs to encourage abstinence as well as sex education. Currently the federal government doesn’t support any sex education programs that include information about contraception or other forms of birth control.

The legislation was offered as an amendment during consideration of the Child Custody Protection Act (S.403).

“We all want to reduce teen pregnancies and abortions. To achieve that, we must do what works, not what pleases political constituencies,” said Lautenberg. “A comprehensive approach to sex education, which includes both abstinence and information on contraception, is the proven way to reduce the number of teen pregnancies. If the Senate passes this punitive bill but fails to do anything about teen pregnancy, it would prove that this exercise is only a political charade and not a serious effort to reduce abortions.”

“Experts say that children born to teen parents are more likely to enter the criminal justice system and to be teen parents themselves,” Menendez said. “Our role as a community is to provide opportunity and education for young people to help prevent teen pregnancy from happening in the first place. We can achieve this by making the community more available through after-school programs, as well as, partnerships with faith-based and other community organizations.”

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=259466&

The sick notion of people deciding what NOT to teach children. Maybe one day the sensible approach of teach them everything and let them decide for themselves can win out.