Abstinence, Not Birth Control, Bush Tells Single Women in Their 20s

Stop having sex, the Bush administration tells single women in their 20s:

The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.

Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.

The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

"They've stepped over the line of common sense," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that supports sex education. "To be preaching abstinence when 90% of people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health."

No, of course it doesn't. It has nothing to do with conservatism, either. In fact, says Charles Pierce over at Tapped, "That strange whirring noise you're hearing is Barry Goldwater going at 78 rpm underground."