Just (Don't) Do It  Problems with a federal program intended to
promote sexual abstinence among unmarried teens show how even
the simplest government attempts to modify behavior often have
unintended consequences.  In its 1996 welfare overhaul bill,
Congress established a $50 million system of block grants for
states that set up "abstinence education" programs. Even as the
first dollars were being spent, however, abstinence enthusiasts
quarreled with the programs some states had designed. In a
December 19 letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services
Donna Shalala, Rep. Tom Bliley (R-Va.) cited news reports of
states that planned to use abstinence education money to expand
after-school sports. In another letter to the program's
administrator, Bliley and Rep. Bill Archer (R-Texas) contend
that several states have placed people who favor "abstinence
plus birth control" (whatever that means) in charge of their
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