Democratic leaders included the provision in legislation to extend and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that was passed by the House by a vote of 224-204. The provision will dramatically increase the ability of states to use federal funds to offer more comprehensive sex education programs.

Under the new provision, states will have the flexibility to define abstinence education more broadly than has been allowed in the past. At the same time, it will require that programs be medically and scientifically accurate and that they be based on a model that has been proven effective at reducing unintended pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, it will end the automatic funding status of the Title V program. For the past decade, $50 million was provided annually without having to go through the usual appropriations process that allows for regular scrutiny. It amounted to an entitlement for states - although many states currently refuse to accept the funds because of the requirements that the money be used for programs that met a strict ideologically driven definition.

There is long way to go, and the President has threatened to veto the expansion of SCHIP, but the House action is an important step in improving a program that has, for far too long, failed to give young people the information they need to make healthy decisions. Under the new provision - if it becomes law - states will be able to direct funds to programs that can actually help young people. And no longer will taxpayer dollars be used to fund programs that provide young people with misinformation. That is an enormous victory for American youth and everyone concerned about the impact that teen pregnancy has on individuals, on families and on our communities.

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