The Committee held a hearing titled, “Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs: Assessing the Evidence” on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. A preliminary transcript of this hearing is now available.

Federally-funded abstinence-only programs require the exclusive teaching of abstinence until marriage and prohibit teaching about condoms or other contraceptives — other than to discuss failure rates. These programs have received over $1.3 billion in federal funding over the past decade. Medical and scientific experts, as well as youth educators, will testify regarding the public health evidence of the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs and of more comprehensive programs.

• • The Honorable Lois Capps, U.S. Representative (CA-23)
  • The Honorable Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator (KS)
  • Ms. Shelby Knox, Youth Speaker
  • Mr. Max Siegel, Policy Associate, AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth, and Families
  • Dr. Georges Benjamin, M.D., Executive Director, American Public Health Association
  • Dr. Margaret Blythe, M.D., Chair, Committee on Adolescence, American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Dr. John Santelli, M.D., M.P.H., Department Chair, Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
  • Dr. Stan Weed, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Research and Evaluation
  • Mr. Charles Keckler, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Dr. Harvey Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., President, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
  • Dr. Marcia Crosse, Director, Healthcare, U.S. Government Accountability Office