The Politics of Abstinence Education: from Reagan's Title Xx to Welfare Reform's Title V

This presentation traces abstinence education from the initiation of Title XX - Adolescent Family Life Demonstration Projects under the Reagan administration to the current Title V Abstinence Education provisions of the Welfare Reform Act.  A Supreme Court settlement, which required that Title XX educational materials be medically accurate and not promote religion, led religious conservatives (whose materials could not pass a review for medical accuracy) to persuade conservative law makers to include a 50 million dollar/year provision for abstinence education in the welfare reform legislation.  The presentation will provide an update of activities under Title V and identify ways session participants can work to assure that programs which are adopted in their states will at least be medically accurate and will not be promoting a particular religious agenda.