Rush Limbaugh claimed young people support marriage equality because Planned Parenthood for America has indoctrinated them through “anything goes” sex education. The program Limbaugh criticized teaches abstinence along with contraception education.
On the March 29 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh read from a Washington Times Communities article by Paul Rondeau, executive director of the American Life League. Rondeau claimed the federal government's Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) teaches “anything goes sex” where “no type of sex is wrong.” Limbaugh used the post to claim young people support marriage equality because “unbeknownst to you kids have been exposed to this for years”:
In fact, PREP began only after the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 and teaches abstinence among other education programs to discourage sexually transmitted infections and pregnancies among students. PREP began after the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that support of same-sex marriage has increased steadily in the entire population for the last 10 years.
Limbaugh also repeated Rondeau's false assertion that PREP teaches “anything goes sex” to young students. The purpose of PREP is to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, partially by supporting programs that “teach abstinence and the use of contraception.” Planned Parenthood For America, like all programs, must abide by the federal guidelines in order to receive the education grant. From the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance:
The State program component must fund teen pregnancy prevention and personal responsibility education programs that have been proven on the basis of rigorous scientific research to change behavior, which means delaying sexual activity, increasing condom or contraceptive use for sexually active youth, or reducing pregnancy among youth. State programs must teach “adulthood preparation” subjects including healthy relationships, adolescent development, financial literacy, parent-child communication, educational and career success, and healthy life skills.
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The programs must: be medically-accurate and complete; include activities to educate youth who are sexually active regarding responsible sexual behavior with respect to both abstinence and the use of contraception; place substantial emphasis on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy among youth and sexually transmitted infections; and must provide age-appropriate information and activities. The information and activities carried out under the program must be provided in the cultural context that is most appropriate for individuals in the particular population group to which they are directed.
One Planned Parenthood affiliate that uses the program states that PREP “is rigorously evaluated by an outside evaluation firm and has demonstrated effectiveness in delaying the onset of first sexual activity and increased safe sex practices when choosing to become sexually active.”