Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle rejects federal abstinence education funds

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) has directed the state Department of Health and Family Services to notify federal officials that Wisconsin is refusing $600,000 in Title V federal abstinence education funds for fiscal year 2007, health department spokesperson Stephanie Marquis said on Friday, the Madison Capital Times reports (Davidoff, Madison Capital Times, 3/3).

The Title V abstinence education grant program, administered by HHS' Administration for Children and Families, distributes funds to states based on a formula favoring states with more low-income children.

To receive Title V funds, states must adhere to requirements, including barring teachers from discussing contraception and requiring them to say that sex within marriage is "the expected standard of sexual activity."

California, Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania also have rejected Title V funds (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/13).

Marquis said that Wisconsin has accepted the Title V funds every year since 1997; however, she added that if funding was accepted this year, programs accepting the funds would not be able to offer complete information about sexually transmitted infections or contraception.

The Oneida Wise Woman Gathering Place, the Menomonee tribe and the Milwaukee, Wis.-based Center for Self Sufficiency would have received Title V funds, according to Marquis.

The Milwaukee Public Schools receives money from Center for Self Sufficiency, and the district would not have been able to offer comprehensive sex education if the center had received Title V funds, Marquis said (Madison Capital Times, 3/3).

Doyle spokesperson Matt Canter said Doyle believes abstinence must be taught at schools, but it should not be the only thing taught.

The funding from Title V would have prevented other groups, such as adults, from receiving comprehensive sex education, Canter said, adding, "To be teaching about contraception for married couples is certainly appropriate" (AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 3/3).

According to the Capital Times, community groups in the state that receive about $3 million annually in funding from other federal grants will be unaffected by the rejection of Title V funding (Madison Capital Times, 3/3).