ACLU Sues HHS Over Government Funding of Silver Ring Thing Abstinence Initiative, Says Program Promotes Christianity
May 17, 2005
The American Civil Liberties Union on Monday in Boston filed a federal lawsuit against HHS, alleging that U.S. government funding of the Silver Ring Thing abstinence initiative violates the constitutional separation of church and state, the Boston Globe reports (Saltzman, Boston Globe, 5/17). The Silver Ring Thing -- which is an offshoot of the Sewickley, Pa.-based Christian ministry John Guest Evangelistic Team -- has received more than $1 million from HHS since 2003 as part of the Bush administration's plan to expand abstinence-only sex education, according to the AP/Los Angeles Times. Many of the abstinence grants have been awarded to groups with religious affiliations, but the groups are not supposed to spend any of the federal funding for "religious proselytizing," according to the AP/Times. However, ACLU in its lawsuit claims that the Silver Ring Thing program encourages young people to "commit themselves to Jesus Christ," according to the AP/Times (Crary, AP/Los Angeles Times, 5/16). Young people who complete the Silver Ring Thing program sign a covenant "before God Almighty" to remain abstinent until marriage and receive a silver ring inscribed with the Bible passage, "God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of sexual sin," according to the Washington Post. According to the John Guest Evangelistic Team's newsletter, the purpose of the Silver Ring Thing program is "to saturate the United States with a generation of young people who have taken a vow of sexual abstinence until marriage and put on the silver ring," adding, "This mission can only be achieved by offering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as the best way to live a sexually pure life," the Post reports. ACLU in its suit said that the Silver Ring Thing program is "permeated with religion" and uses "taxpayer dollars to promote religious content, instruction and indoctrination" (Connolly, Washington Post, 5/17).
Reaction
Julie Sternberg, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said, "Using public funds, the Silver Ring Thing urges students to commit themselves to Christ," adding, "The courts have repeatedly said that taxpayer dollars cannot be used to promote religion. The Silver Ring Thing blatantly violates this principle" (ACLU release, 5/16). Denny Pattyn, Silver Ring Thing founder and president, issued a statement acknowledging that the program is "faith-based," but he said that the organization has used all federal funds properly, according to BBC News (BBC News, 5/17). Pattyn said he has not seen the ACLU lawsuit but "is aware of the proper designation of the federal funds received and asserts that these monies have been properly directed," according to the Post (Washington Post, 5/17). According to the Silver Ring Thing, 30,000 young people have committed to abstinence after attending one of the program's seminars, according to the AP/Times (AP/Los Angeles Times, 5/16). Silver Ring Thing presentations have been held in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin, and presentations are scheduled to be held this year in Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina and other states (ACLU release, 5/16).
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Tuesday reported on the lawsuit. The segment includes comments from Pattyn, Sternberg and Ira Lupu, a law professor at George Washington University (Bradley Hagerty, "Morning Edition," NPR, 5/17). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, and sign up for E-mail delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro. The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation, by The Advisory Board Company. © 2005 by The Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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