Last month, we first introduced you to Derek Dye the Abstinence Clown, who has now become an internet superstar (kind of like the Star Wars Kid). Derek is employed by Elizabeth’s New Life Center, an Ohio organization that received an $800,000 CBAE grant in 2007 to promote abstinence-only until marriage sex education. He juggles, he misleads, he... frightens. And his qualifications for teaching middle schoolers about sex? A “Bachelor of Fun Arts” from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.

After we brought national attention to Derek’s work, he and the Elizabeth's New Life Center took Derek’s video down from his own web site, as apparently this type of nonsense was only supposed to be seen by those within the ab-only circles.

If you go to Derek’s website now, you see an angry response to the exposure that Derek’s “work” has received, including this message to, we presume, us:

We trust that no one will be deceived by the slanderous and vicious comments that have been made about Derek Dye or Elizabeth's New Life Center.

They also state that Derek’s

“presentation lasts at least 40 minutes. (The short video clips -- about five minutes worth -- were never meant to comprise the sum total of his message.)”

Interesting… notably absent is any video of his “performance” whatsoever. We welcome (and would greatly enjoy) Elizabeth’s New Life Center posting his full presentation, if only as a service to taxpayers who are funding this nonsense.

But, since Elizabeth’s New Life Center has the nerve to accuse others of “deceiving”, I think it would be beneficial to look at the rest of their website to find some of their other misinformation tactics that are aimed at youth, all at taxpayers’ expense.

Take, for example, their willingness to push the long-debunked propaganda that abortion causes breast cancer:

“An abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, especially if the woman is under 18. One study showed that an abortion on a teen increased her chances of breast cancer by 800%. African American women are also at high risk for aggressive cancers associated with abortion.”

Or, that abortion will make you infertile:

“Abortions can leave scar tissue in the uterus that is damaging to the cervix and may leave a woman unable to have other babies, carry a pregnancy to term, or can make her susceptible to miscarriages.”

Or, their willingness to promote long-debunked propaganda around “post-abortion syndrome”:

"It is necessary to not only consider the medical risks involved with abortion, but also the equally damaging psychological and emotional risks. Symptoms range from mild depression to suicidal tendencies, along with drug and alcohol addictions. Extreme feelings of guilt are common, along with anxiety and flashbacks to the abortion. It is important to look beyond the present and think about how you will remember your decision months or even years from now and what effect your decision will have on your life in the future.

******

A survey of some women who had abortions found the following information:

* 28% attempted suicide
* 31% experienced suicidal feelings
* 60% commented that the decision to abort made their lives worse
* 94% regretted the decision to abort"

Or, their advise to boys who knock up their girlfriend in their "For Men Only" section:

"As the father, you may not always have legal means of interfering with an abortion, although you can attempt to gain a court order"

And, of course, the same old misinformation denying the effectiveness of condoms, which you’ll find among all of the abstinence-only programs:

“Abstinence is the ONLY 100% guaranteed method to prevent pregnancy, STDs, and emotional heartache. Condoms ARE NOT always effective in preventing pregnancy or the transmission of disease.”

So, in conclusion, “deception” is something that Elizabeth’s New Life Center is certainly well acquainted with. But they are in no position to throw that label around, when they are busy milking federal tax dollars to do just that.

And what can you do to stop federally funding this nonsense? President Obama is currently drafting his budget for the 2010 fiscal year, and we need to tell him to explicitly ZERO OUT funding for abstinence-only until marriage initiatives, which have already cost us $1.5 billion and caused innumerable damage to the sexual health of young people. Send him that message here.

(Oh, and if you haven’t seen our youth vlogger Nobles, er, I mean, “Andy the Abstinence Clown”, Derek’s “brother”, I suggest you enjoy the following presentation:)