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Abstinence Program Called 'Failure'

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Funding for a pro-abstinence, anti-abortion program would disappear under a plan advancing in the Senate.

Nan Rich, vice-chairwoman of the Senate Health Appropriations panel, is pushing to eliminate all $600,000 remaining in this year's budget for an abstinence-only education and crisis pregnancy program that counsels women about abortion alternatives.

"There is not one peer-reviewed study that says that program works," said Rich, D-Sunrise, referring particularly to the abstinence component. "It is a dismal failure, and that was the charge from the Senate president: Look for things that don't work, and let's take the money and use it in critical-need areas."

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, which oversees the program, did not respond to a request for information on the program's use or rate of success.

The Senate proposed cutting the $2 million program's funding last spring but ran afoul of House leaders. The House is now proposing a cut of 4 percent, and Rich said her committee will propose sweeping all remaining money for the initiative into other health spending.

But the program, championed by former Gov. Jeb Bush, still has supporters who say they will weigh in if lawmakers try to eliminate it.

"The services being provided are extremely important," said John Stemberger, head of the socially conservative Florida Family Policy Council. "One judge of civilization is how we treat the most vulnerable members of society. There's no more vulnerable a class of citizens than the unborn."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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