A recent letter to the editor titled "Protecting against AIDS" stated: "More than $1.5 billion in federal and state funding has been wasted in the last decade on dangerous abstinence-only programs that deny teenagers lifesaving information."

The abstinence message is sound and can save lives, if heeded. Simply put: no sex, no sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Planned Parenthood's message is they provide "the tools to make responsible decisions..." concerning sexual activity but they can't guarantee an STI won't be contracted. If an individual contracts HIV/AIDS his/her future is bleak. After years of expensive chemical "cocktails" to keep the virus in remission the infected person usually dies. So, which of the two messages has the greatest lifesaving potential?

People run stop signs and suffer the consequences of their actions. Does this make the stop sign's message dangerous? Should we stop spending money on stop signs? Money spent on abstinence education is not a waste. What is a waste are the people who will die from HIV/AIDS because they didn't heed the abstinence message.