July 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House, taking aim at one of former President George W. Bush’s signature initiatives, voted to slash funding for abstinence-only sex education programs.

The chamber voted 264-153 to approve an annual health and education spending bill that would eliminate a $99 million initiative providing grants to public and private organizations that encourage teens to abstain from premarital sex.

Democrats, contending there’s little evidence the programs work, said the money would be better spent on a new $114 million initiative included in the measure that would try a variety of ways to prevent teenage pregnancies such as promoting the use of contraceptives.

Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, called the abstinence program “discredited and ineffective,” saying the current bill amounted to a “huge, huge step in the right direction to ensure the health of our young teenage girls and boys.”

Republicans criticized the move, saying abstinence programs work.

“They’ve dramatically reduced the number of teenage pregnancies,” said Representative Zach Wamp, a Tennessee Republican. “It’s clearly a big shift in social policy” and a “big blow to the whole abstinence education movement in this country.”

Funding for the abstinence initiative increased five-fold during the Bush administration, which ultimately spent more than a half-billion dollars on the program. Lawmakers allowed a second, separate abstinence program that was created as part of the 1996 welfare overhaul to expire last month.

‘Innovative Approaches’

Democrats said abstinence programs could still apply for federal funding under the legislation approved today, pointing to provisions reserving $25 million to develop and test programs “that may not yet have rigorous evaluation demonstrating effectiveness, but use promising or innovative approaches to prevent teenage pregnancy.”

The Obama administration, which proposed eliminating both programs in its February budget request, said in a statement it “strongly” supports the bill approved today, which funds the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The Senate has not taken up the legislation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 24, 2009 14:55 EDT