Action Alert: Your Help is Urgently Needed to Preserve Abstinence Education!
President Obama recently requested that Congress zero out all funds for abstinence-centered education in the 2010 budget and replace them with contraceptive-centered programs instead.
Congress is not obligated to implement the President's recommendation, so we have an opportunity to preserve abstinence education if you act now.
It is essential that policy makers hear from you right away. Otherwise, funding could end very soon.
Forward this Alert on to others who support abstinence education. Encourage them to send the alert out to their network and ACT right away!
What Must You Do?
1. Sign the letter asking President Obama to reinsert funding for abstinence education in his budget request. Click here to read and sign the letter.
2. Sign the letter asking House Appropriations Chairman Obey to maintain funding for abstinence education in the 2010 budget. Click here to read and sign the letter.
3. Sign the letter asking Republican Leadership to take the lead on advocating for the continuation of abstinence education in the 2010 budget. Click here to read and sign the letter.
4. Help send 1,000's of letters to President Obama by students who have profited from abstinence education programs and by parents and teachers who see the benefit. The letters can be short, but must personally illustrate why abstinence education must continue. Send one copy of the letters to NAEA (either email or by mail) and the other copy to the President. Address:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC
5. Visit Your Member of Congress over the Memorial Day Break. Call the district office and ask for a meeting or attend an event where your Member will be. Use this opportunity to let them know that abstinence education must continue in his/her district. (Let NAEA know if you are able to visit by sending an email to info@abstinenceassociation.org)
» Contact your House Member here
» Contact your Senator here
For More Information...
Use new NAEA resources to let your policy makers, school board members, and stakeholders know that abstinence works:
- Listen to an overview of the current debate from Saturday's Family Research Council's Washington Watch Weekly radio broadcast. NAEA's Valerie Huber and FRC's David Christensen discuss the issue here.
- Visit the new NAEA website, Abstinence Works (AW), which sets the record straight on research that informs the sex education debate (www.AbstinenceWorks.org).
- A new report, Abstinence Works 2009 identifies 40 studies that demonstrate significant behavioral impact or significant impact on factors predictive of behavior change. (This resource is available for ordering on the AW website.)
- A new study by prominent youth risk behavior researcher, Dr. Stan Weed, which places comprehensive sex education and abstinence education on a similar grid and finds that there is more behavioral impact for abstinence education. (This presentation is available on the AW website.)
May 18, 2009
Find Your Members of Congress! Click here and enter your zip code for a list of your local elected officials, along with their websites, phone numbers, email addresses, and mail addresses. Call (202) 224-3121 and ask for your senator's and/or representative's office telephone number. Or, click here for an online telephone directory. Here are some tips and guidelines for phoning, writing and emailing your representatives. |