Proponents Of Abstinence-Only Education Concerned Support Will Wane Under Next President

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 22 Oct 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs are concerned about the future of these programs under a new president who might not "be so dedicated to the cause," Newsweek reports. According to Newsweek, the positions of the two presidential nominees are "hardly comforting" for supporters of abstinence-only education. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) supports comprehensive sex education. And while Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin support federal funding for programs that "promote abstinence as the best option," aides say they back the inclusion of information about contraception. President Bush has provided more than $1 billion for abstinence-only education programs, and supporters of the programs "couldn't be losing their president at a worse time," according to Newsweek.

Recent studies "have cast doubt" on the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs in decreasing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates, according to Newsweek. In addition, "critics have skewered curricula for breaches of accuracy and ethics," Newsweek reports. Research conducted on comprehensive sex education has shown that the programs can increase contraceptive use among teenagers -- as well as reduce the number of sexual partners and delay the initiation of sex, both of which are goals of abstinence-only sex education programs -- Newsweek reports. Federal funding for abstinence-only programs has been rejected by 25 state health departments, and the government reported in December an increase in teen birth rates for the first time in 15 years.

According to author Laura Beil, who spent a year studying abstinence education as part of a Kaiser Family Foundation media fellowship, conservatives "seem to want to brand all comprehensive sex education, which includes detailed discussions of contraception, as a conspiracy to encourage teen sex." On the other hand, liberals "just want abstinence education to go away." Although "[b]oth sides profess to care deeply about the country's youth," each "seems to operate in its own universe, while our children live in only one," according to Newsweek. The article also examines an abstinence program in Texas called Virginity Rules, which started almost 10 years ago. The program has an annual budget of almost $1 million, although it learned this month that it will lose its federal funding. Beil notes that half of states have rejected abstinence-only funds and that the issue now is whether public money should keep flowing to any abstinence program. Beil concludes that both sides "believe parents and other adults in a child's life should take an active lead in shaping adolescent sexuality." She says that schools need to address "healthy sexuality and contraception, but so should parents, pediatricians, the media and every influence in a teenager's world. Messages of delay need to infiltrate homes, classrooms -- possibly even billboards" (Beil, Newsweek, 10/27).

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