Congressional Democrats are acting like parents unsure how to talk to their kids about sex as they allow $50 million of taxpayer money earmarked for abstinence-only funding to expire in June. Everyone knows direct communication about issues of sexual health is better.

By contrast, Governor Bill Ritter (D-CO) is talking directly about the need for reality-based comprehensive sexuality education in the schools. Yesterday he signed into law House Bill 1292, which requires public schools to maintain human sexuality curriculum standards based on scientific research.

Gov. Ritter's direct approach ensures students are taught about abstinence but are also prepared with facts about contraception, preventing sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancies and most importantly learn respect and responsibility for themselves and their partners. Ritter is an anti-choice Democrat that believes in putting his money where his mouth is on prevention efforts to ensure that unintended pregnancies are rare.

Congressional Democrats certainly understand ab-only. "Abstinence-only seems to be a colossal failure," said Rep. John Dingell (D-MI). Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) called it a “huge waste of money” and said it “gives a lot of kids misinformation” on health issues.

But Democrats at the federal level are still getting their sea-legs as the party in power and suffer flashbacks and nervous ticks at the very mention of social issues, having allowed themselves to be beaten over the head with them for a decade of social conservative dominance. The reality is they were being cowed by a vocal minority that continues to use easily debunked spin to strike fear in Congressional Dems. The difference now is Democrats are in the majority and should do the right thing, as vast majorities of Americans want them to, by ensuring comprehensive sexuality education, an important part of their prevention first agenda.

The ab-only spinners are working overtime trying to save billions of taxpayer dollars used to promote narrow views and misinformation. “Anything this Congress does that promotes promiscuity on the part of our young people is a step in the wrong direction,” said Rep. Tom Price, (R-GA).

Abstinence-only is "a public health message that offers risk-elimination for youth," said Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association. "It's also consistent with what parents across America want for their youth."

Huber bases her comments on a recent Zogby poll commissioned by her organization to develop messaging for an upcoming media-blitz designed to protect the billion dollar boondoggle that abstinence-only funding is. From what amounts to nothing more than a poll to test messaging, she makes several absurd conclusions about where public opinion is on ab-only funding. This is a common misuse of polling data that the media should not report on, but that can gain traction in the social conservative echo chamber. Anyone who understands polling knows this poll was not designed to assess public opinion, but to influence it.

By contrast, polls done by independent researchers indicate 82 percent of Americans support comprehensive sexuality education, like that now mandated in Colorado.

Some advocates for comprehensive sexuality education are applauding the first steps that Congressional Democrats are taking toward improving sexuality education of America's youth. According to Bill Smith, Vice President of Public Policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US, “The Democrats are not playing politics as the few right-wing extremists are screaming. They are following the evidence and the evidence shows that the Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program is not helping young people abstain. There is a way to teach abstinence that works, but the extreme nature of the Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program is not it. To this end, letting this program die is not a vote against abstinence, it’s a vote to end a program that just doesn’t work.”

Ab-only advocates are also busy in Colorado, where Gov. Ritter's efforts to protect teens is being spun wildly. Colorado Media Matters points out that Colorado media are buying the social conservative spin that this would "ban" abstinence-only education.

Jim Pfaff, president and CEO of the Colorado Family Institute, said "Ritter’s support of a ban on abstinence-only sex education will take moral teaching out of the classroom."

According to the Colorado Catholic Conference, the law requiring all sex education courses to include contraceptive instruction will undercut the effectiveness of abstinence-only teaching; however, they acknowledge that this is not a "ban." “Although this law does address the need for abstinence education it also mandates the teaching of contraceptive methods and practices."

Congressional Democrats, while taking a less direct approach, at least are taking the first important steps toward correcting the failures of abstinence-only policies. As is often the case, the states (in this case Colorado, an important state/region for 2008 electoral politics) are slightly ahead of Washington on ab-only policies.