<http://www.wapt.com/news/20817145/detail.html>ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit Over DHS Abstinence Rally
ACLU Says DHS Crossed Line Of Separating Church, State http://www.wapt.com/news/20817145/detail.html JACKSON, Miss. -- The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi on Wednesday asked a federal court in Mississippi to end government funding of what they called religion in the state's abstinence-only-until-marriage program. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District on behalf of a teen and two community members who attended a state-sponsored abstinence summit in May of this year. "The state of Mississippi cannot sponsor overtly religious events as part of its abstinence-only-until-marriage program," said Brigitte Amiri, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "This is not the first time the state has crossed the line in its abstinence programming, but we hope it will be the last. Instead of preaching, the state needs to start teaching youth how to make responsible and healthy decisions throughout their lives." The ACLU said the event featured religious speakers and misinformation about contraception. The ACLU said the Department of Human Services crossed the line of separating church and state with the number of religious speakers and faith-based groups who performed at the summit. Exclusive video provided to the ACLU by Stuart Productions showed the event, which drew thousands of Mississippi teenagers to the Mississippi Coliseum in May. It looked like a pep rally, complete with cheerleaders and performances. "Stop, don't touch me there -- this is my no, no square," said one cheer by the Grenada High School cheerleaders. It wasn't about school spirit. The summit was sponsored by Mississippi's Department of Human Services' Abstinence Before Marriage program. Julia Bryan, a spokeswoman for DHS, declined to comment because of the pending litigation. In July, DHS officials said the program works. The department reported a drop in the number of teenage births between 2006 and 2008, though Mississippi still leads the nation in the category. Mississippi's Department of Health agrees that abstinence is the best policy, but the head of the department said an increased number of sexually transmitted infections among teenagers shows that they aren't following the abstinence-only program. "This is indicative in the fact that a substantial number of teenagers are engaging in sex, but they are not using appropriate birth control methods when they do so," Dr. Ed Thompson told WAPT News in July. Thompson said teenagers should be educated about safer sex practices beginning at home with support from a comprehensive sexual health course in school. Previous Story: * July 30, 2009: ACLU Says DHS Gave False Info At Abstinence Summit <http://www.wapt.com/news/20220913/detail.html>http://www.wapt.com/news/20220913/detail.html Copyright 2009 by WAPT.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
