It appears that the everlasting debate over the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs is finally over. Health groups told the Congress on Wednesday that these programs are a failure as they have not affected STD rates, pregnancy rates, or changed the age teenagers begin their sex lives.

These programs, backed by many social conservatives who oppose the teaching of contraception methods to teenagers in schools, have received about $1.5 billion in federal funds since the late 1990s.

“Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs simply do not work. After spending $1.5 billion on these failed programs over the last 10 years, the time has come to move in a new direction,” said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth (AFY), a group that advocates responsible sexual decision-making for youth, the Washington Post reports.

AFY is not the only group claiming the failure of the abstinence programs. The Guttmacher Institute and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States have complained for years that these programs are error-ridden, narrow, potentially harmful to adolescents and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

According to a study released in December by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the teen pregnancy rate knew a significant raise in 2006, the first such increase in 15 years. Between 1991 and 2005, the rate dropped 34 percent. Also, one in four U.S. teenage girls has a sexual transmitted disease.

When the government began funding abstinence-only sex education in 1996, 49 of 50 states signed up for such programs. Currently, 17 states have rejected the federal funding because of public health concerns and because their governors found the programs to be inconsistent with the state's values or public health mandates.

“Seventeen states have now said they will not accept funding. For a health department to give up funding is a very important fact,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association, according to the Los Angeles Times.

According to the latest data, teaching high school students about contraceptive use may be more effective at decreasing teen pregnancies than abstinence-only programs, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps said citing a 2004 study done in Kansas.