(Page 2 of 2)

James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a public health organization dealing with adolescent sexual health, objected to the removal of information on programs aimed at reducing sexual activity among teenagers, which was contained on the Web site of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, saying that there "seems to be a concerted effort to censor science and research that supports contraception in favor of `abstinence-only until marriage' programs."

Terje Anderson of the National Association of People with AIDS, speaking of the deleted condom information, which was removed from the National Center for H.I.V., S.T.D. and TB Prevention Web site on July 23, 2001, said, "Something doesn't need to disappear for a year and a half to be updated."

The Web site said, in part: "Studies have shown that latex condoms are highly effective in preventing H.I.V. transmission."

Kitty Bina, a spokeswoman for the C.D.C. in Atlanta, said the revised version, which would explain that condoms did not always provide protection from other sexually transmitted diseases, had been sent to department headquarters for review.

The National Cancer Institute's removed document, "Abortion and Breast Cancer," said: "The current body of scientific evidence suggests that women who have had either induced or spontaneous abortion have the same risk as other women for developing breast cancer."

Dorie Hightower, a press officer at the National Cancer Institute, said: "We regularly review our fact sheets. We regularly update them for accuracy and scientific relevance. This was taken off the Web to review it for accuracy in July." She said that the review was to see if there had been other scientific studies. "There is supposed to be an interim statement that is going to be posted shortly," she said.

The C.D.C. Web site had also published information about intervention programs designed to discourage teenage sexual activity. Some mentioned abstinence, one mentioned condoms. Katharine Harvin, speaking for the C.D.C. in Atlanta, said the information was removed in June because some "communities and schools did not adopt packaged interventions, because some parts were disliked, or parts were liked and disliked."