Jodie Levin-Epstein

Jodie Levin-Epstein is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy.

Recent Articles

Responsive Workplaces


Reproductive Roulette

In 1996 the newly Republican Congress approved nearly $440 million in public funds over five years to teach celibacy. The law comes up for renewal next year. The local programs supported under this legislation teach that abstinence is the only appropriate way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Indeed, the limited information about contraceptives permitted in such classes emphasizes contraceptive failure rates. Under the program's key elements, states may only fund classes that teach that: Premarital sex is wrong . It is "likely" to be both psychologically and physically damaging. Sex is for the self-sufficient . Sexual activity is appropriate upon the attainment of "self-sufficiency"--presumably a measure of economic status. Since the law is silent on the definition of self-sufficiency, the income that a couple needs to achieve before sexual relations become appropriate is ambiguous. Abstinence is ageless. Only the married should have sex. Since marriage...