The American Civil Liberties Union last week released a statement saying it would file a complaint if the Louisiana Governor’s Program on Abstinence did not remove religious content from its Web site.
The ACLU claimed in its release that the federally-funded GPA Web site is in violation of a 2002 agreement to closely monitor its content.
Louise Melling, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, issued a letter to New Orleans attorney Bruce V. Schewe, who defended the governor’s office in 2002.
The letter cited several examples of religious content on the site, including an advice column excerpt in which an expert responded to a question saying, “God will help you explain what you mean in a way that is different for everyone so they can understand it too.”
Another expert told an adult that “God’s plan for us is not to be alone, but to have one spouse for life.”
Also found on the site was a downloadable cartoon with a church wedding ceremony and links to religious sites.
Roderick Hawkins, deputy press secretary for Gov. Kathleen Blanco, said the directors of the GPA Web site would review the content and make changes if necessary.
“The majority of those examples [in Melling’s letter] were not on the GPA site, they were links,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said changes would be made if those reviewing the site found any content in violation of the first agreement.
The GPA was created during former Gov. Mike Foster’s administration and receives $1.6 million annually from the federal government, Hawkins said.
The ACLU release said it would seek further legal action if the religious content was not removed from the site in 30 days.
Joe Cook, the executive director of the ACLU in Louisiana, said the current administration has done nothing to wipe the religious content from its site since the agreement was reached in 2002.
“They promised to clean up the site,” Cook said. “Instead of using the last two years to do that, they have continued using taxpayer money to preach religion with their program.”
Cook said the governor’s office should not “pick and choose what parts of the law to obey,” and that they are constitutionally prohibited from advancing religious initiatives.
“When the state site refers you to something with a religious message, they are endorsing that message,” Cook said.
Cook said the ACLU did not begin the latest push for action because of any specific complaints from citizens.
Hawkins said despite the recent demands from the ACLU, the GPA has been considered a model program for other states and countries trying to promote abstinence.