By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 14 years ago

Reminder: National Comprehensive Sex Education Call-In Day is Today!

A reminder to take five minutes today between 10 and 4 to call Congress and tell them we need to cut funds for failed abstinence-only programs and fund comprehensive sex education. It’s time to take the clowns out of the classrooms and give young people accurate information about sex and sexuality.
Check out this previous post for more information. Call-In Day is organized by Choice USA, SYRF, SIECUS, Advocates for Youth, and Catholics for Choice. Below, a video from my friends Kierra Johnson and Edith Sargon from Choice USA asking you to call your Senators.

(Transcript after the jump).
Script and talking points for calls also after the jump.


Call 1-888-423-5983 to connect to your Senators office. What to say when you call:
Hi. My name is ________________. May I please speak with the Senator’s lead aide on health? I am calling to talk about stripping the Hatch Abstinence-only Amendment from the Health Care Reform bill.
(after they transfer you to the right person in the office)
Hi. My name is ___________ and I am calling from ___________. The Senate Finance Committee recently passed the Hatch Abstinence-only Amendment to Healthcare Reform- reinstating $50 million in funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. We need to ensure Congress only funds a comprehensive approach to sex education and does not fund ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that leave young people at risk. As a constituent of Senator _________, I urge the Senator to work to strip the Hatch Abstinence-only Amendment from the final Healthcare Reform bill.
Other Talking Points to Use:
-Healthcare Reform is a critically important task for this Congress and it should not be hijacked by ideologically motivated earmarks.
-The Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program expired on June 30th and, at that time, had been refused by nearly half of the states both because of the restrictive nature of the program and the fact that overwhelming evidence has proven these programs to be ineffective and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
-The federal government’s own study of the Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program found these programs to be completely ineffective at their stated goals.
-Moreover, study after study has shown that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have no effect whatsoever.
-It is time for the federal government to stop wasting taxpayer dollars on these failed programs.
-I stand with the millions of Americans who support teaching both abstinence and contraception. Nationwide polls show that eight-in-ten voters want young people to receive a comprehensive approach to sex education that includes teaching about both abstinence and contraception.
Video Transcript:
Edith Sargon: Hi I’m Edith.
Kierra Johnson: And I’m Kierra.
Both: And we’re with Choice USA.
ES: So have you heard? Today’s the day.
KJ: Thousands of young people across the nation are urging Congress to keep dangerous abstinence-only programs out of health care reform.
ES: So we’re asking you to take five minutes out of your day and call this number and tell Congress we won’t stand for this. The number is 1-888-423-5983. So go ahead, make the call.
KJ: No, seriously. We’re waiting.

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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