Committee Holds Hearing Assessing the Evidence of Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs

The Committee held a hearing titled, “Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs: Assessing the Evidence” on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. A preliminary transcript of this hearing is now available.

Federally-funded abstinence-only programs require the exclusive teaching of abstinence until marriage and prohibit teaching about condoms or other contraceptives — other than to discuss failure rates. These programs have received over $1.3 billion in federal funding over the past decade. Medical and scientific experts, as well as youth educators, will testify regarding the public health evidence of the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs and of more comprehensive programs.

Witnesses

The Honorable Lois Capps, U.S. Representative (CA-23)

The Honorable Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator (KS)

Ms. Shelby Knox, Youth Speaker

Mr. Max Siegel, Policy Associate, AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth, and Families

Dr. Georges Benjamin, M.D., Executive Director, American Public Health Association

Dr. Margaret Blythe, M.D., Chair, Committee on Adolescence, American Academy of Pediatrics

Dr. John Santelli, M.D., M.P.H., Department Chair, Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

Dr. Stan Weed, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Research and Evaluation

Mr. Charles Keckler, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Harvey Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., President, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

Dr. Marcia Crosse, Director, Healthcare, U.S. Government Accountability Office