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State Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil says there has never been a consensus among the experts that abstinence-only sexual education works.

That's one reason the state has decided not to reapply for federal funding to bring such programs to New Mexico schools next year.

"There has never been a scientific consensus about this," Vigil said Wednesday. "It had an ideological base from people who just wanted this to happen for all kinds of reasons."

Vigil said he's not opposed to abstinence education, as long as the state's teens are getting other information too. But with abstinence-only education, the funding came before its effectiveness was established, he said.

Vigil said experts agree that programs that give scientific, complete and age-appropriate information to young people are working when combined with making medical services available and providing adult moral and ethical support from families, churches and community groups.

"It's not up to me to tell someone what morals to teach their teenager, and it's not up to the federal government either," Vigil said.

New Mexico joins at least 14 other states that also have given up the federal abstinence-only funds, state Health Department spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer said.

Since 2004, New Mexico's share of abstinence-only funding has varied from $514,000 in 2004 to nothing in 2006. So it's unclear how much money the state would have received in 2008. The department currently spends about $400,000 in state funds on sex education, she said.

Laurel Cordova Edenburn, head of the New Mexico Abstinence Education Coalition, said the Health Department has ignored New Mexico studies that show abstinence education works.

In Socorro and Catron counties, which only use abstinence education, unwanted teen pregnancies decreased 26 percent over a five-year period, she said. And in Roswell, an Eastern New Mexico University study found a 10 percent decrease in students who reported sexual activity during an abstinence education program, she said.

"We do have good results in New Mexico," Edenburn said.

Busemeyer said the federal abstinence-only program carried many restrictions, such as what ages could be targeted and what topics could be covered.

Community organizations that teach abstinence-only programs in New Mexico schools can continue to apply for the federal funding. Busemeyer said it would then be up to individual school districts whether they want those groups to teach in their schools.

In 2005, New Mexico and Texas had the highest unwanted teen pregnancy rates in the nation, Busemeyer said.