Abstinence-only programs don't work. However, that's not going to stop the Dobson Gang from alerting the troops: Someone in Congress has finally gotten fed up with funneling money to religious-based abstinence-only programs, which as far as I'm concerned is just another example of conservative pork. (I'm waiting for them the find the cojones to cut the Office of Faith-Based Handouts.)
The Dobson Gang, of course, is about to have a collective cow:
Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said it is important to look at the growing body of research showing abstinence education as the only curriculum that successfully addresses teen pregnancies, STIs and the emotional consequences of teen sex.
“Abstinence education is so much more than a ‘Just Say No' approach,” she said. “It is time that society puts public health in front of ideological agendas and recognizes that abstinence education is the best health message for America's youth."
The problem is, that's not true. From ABC:
Stoking the fire, a study published in the April edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received abstinence-only education. The study also found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received no sex education at all.
Both sides are making hay out of the recent CDC that shows that one in four teenage girls has an STD. The sex-as-evil crowd claims that the study shows that more abstinence-only programs are the only answer. I have one question: we've been pushing abstinence-only for years now, and the STD rate among teenagers has gone up. How is more going to help?
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