ABSTINENCE-ONLY? ABSTAIN, PLEASE

EVEN IN ITS final days, the Bush administration is continuing its assault on reproductive rights.

That's to be expected. But why does Pennsylvania's pro-choice, pro-family-planning Democratic governor want to join in, even in a small way?

Just last month, Gov. Rendell's BFF, Sen. Hillary Clinton, helped to catch the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the act of trying to sneak in changes to the official definition of pregnancy.

If she hadn't, the most common forms of birth control - including the pill and IUD - could be considered abortion-inducing, resulting in fewer providers offering birth control. The publicity appears to have forced HHS to backtrack.

Maybe, while they're both at the Democratic convention next week, Hillary could warn Rendell about the danger of legitimizing the ethical fraud of abstinence-only education.

Every legitimate scientific study on this 10-year-old scam finds the program does more harm than good. A recent University of Washington study provides the latest evidence: Abstinence-only programs do not result in increased abstinence, and kids in comprehensive sex-education programs - "abstinence-plus" - are significantly less likely to report teen pregnancy. Other studies show that kids in abstinence-only programs are more likely to engage in the risky sex that leads to sexually transmitted diseases.

Yet Rendell is toying again with letting the state front for abstinence-only education by serving as a conduit for a possible $1.7 million in grants. Even though Pennsylvania hasn't taken these grants since 2003, the state Health Department is readying an application. In a statement, Rendell acknowledged the "limited effectiveness" of these programs, but said that it's important to teach abstinence and that he doesn't want to "stand in the way" of organizations' going after the money.

Let's unpack this remarkable statement: Comprehensive sex education - the kind that works - isn't called "-only" anything. It includes both the teaching of abstinence and the transmittal of accurate information about contraception. By contrast, abstinence-only education allows the mention of contraceptive methods only to say that they fail - not that they protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This is medically inaccurate on its face. And it doesn't allow kids to be taught how to use the contraception properly, which would go a long way to reducing said failure rate.

Besides, no one currently is standing in the way of private organizations applying for the federal money. In fact, $10 million came in to the commonwealth last year, some as direct grants and some from earmarks provided by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. The difference was that the state Health Department wasn't de facto legitimizing it.

About $1.5 billion has been wasted on these programs nationwide in the past decade. Most has gone to "faith-based" administration cronies because ethical educators and health professionals won't have anything to do with these programs, which often demonize gays and serve as a pretext for religious proselytizing.

Little oversight has been required, and when the programs didn't measure up to established federal standards, the standards simply were rewritten. After 10 years, these facts have become well-known, and about 20 states have decided against applying for funding.

If Pennsylvania decides to, it would be saying it's OK for our kids to get inaccurate and dangerous misinformation, as long as somebody else tells the lies.

These discredited programs are just the kind that a pro-choice, pro-family-planning Democratic governor should want to stand in the way of. *