Maine Says No to Abstinence-Only Money

Maine Gov. John Baldacci (D) has decided to decline $161,000 in federal funds for abstinence-only sex education program, in part because new federal guidelines prohibit the funds be used to teach “safe-sex” practices, the Portland Press Herald reports. Maine accepted federal money for abstinence-based education programs annually from 1998 through 2004. However, officials on Monday said that the state did not apply for $165,000 in funds during the current federal fiscal year and it will not seek $161,000 for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Maine Public Health Director Dora Anne Mills said that under newly restricted federal rules, the money has to be used for abstinence-only programs, which would prevent the state from providing “comprehensive reproductive information,” including information for abstinent and sexually active young people. Mills also said that federal guidelines that encourage schools to promote “abstinence until marriage” make it difficult to educate young people who are not heterosexual. She noted that the federal money is not necessary because Maine’s teen pregnancy and abortion rates have decreased significantly. Maine is the third state in the country after Pennsylvania and California to refuse federal money for abstinence-only education.