Abstinence proponents join panel on sexually transmitted disease

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers organizing a federal panel on sexually transmitted disease say an agency allowed a conservative congressman to include two abstinence-only proponents, bypassing the scientific-approval process.

Indiana Rep. Mark Souder, a Republican who chairs the House subcommittee on drug policy, questioned the balance of the original panel, which focused on the failure of abstinence-until-marriage programs.

In an e-mail to Health and Human Services officials, his office asked if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was "clear about the controversial nature of this session and its obvious anti-abstinence objective?"

The panel's original title, "Are Abstinence-Only Until Marriage Programs a Threat to Public Health?" was changed last week, and two members were pulled. The new panel is titled "Public Health Strategies of Abstinence Programs for Youth." Souder's office said it did not recommend the two new panelists.

"It was clear that there was not a scintilla of something positive about the abstinence-education method," said Michelle Gress, counsel for Souder on the subcommittee.

Abstinence-only proponents say it's hard to measure their programs because other sex education often is involved. But Jonathan Zenilman, president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association, and conference organizer, said the panel focused on the problems with abstinence programs because there are no credible data — and no credible applicants offering otherwise.

"We've spent $1.2 billion over a 25-year period on abstinence-only programs. Shouldn't we have one study that shows that they work?" asked William Smith, director for public policy for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.

Scientists have complained about increasing government interference. Officials of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration last year told suicide-prevention conference coordinators to remove the words "gay," "lesbian" and "bisexual" from its program and add a session on faith-based suicide prevention.

But this was the first time, conference organizers said, that a single politician had interfered so clearly. The concern, they said, was that studies on sexual behavior would not be made public if they jarred with the administration's views on abstinence and other public-health issues.

"At the CDC, they're beside themselves," Zenilman said. "These people ... haven't written anything. The only reason they're here is because of political pressure from the administration."

Neither of the new speakers, Dr. Patricia Sulak, an ob/gyn and director of "Worth the Wait," and Dr. Eric Walsh, went through the peer-review process required of other participants, although CDC officials did not explain why. Both panelists were funded by HHS, although others said they were told they had to pay their expenses.

John Douglas, director of the CDC's STD program, declined repeated requests for an interview. A CDC spokeswoman said she did not know the details, but summed up the situation: "It's real simple," Karen Hunter said. "It was unbalanced before. And now it's not."