Critics Put Abstinence Education on Trial
by: Doug Carlson - Apr 22, 2008 - comment
Strong evidence suggests abstinence education is effective in reducing teen sexual activity and polling demonstrates parents strongly back the programs, but apparently that is not enough to win the support of some in Congress.
A House committee will put abstinence education on the stand this week and draw upon remarks by a stacked panel of witnesses in hopes of discrediting the programs while trumpeting comprehensive sex education.
If you agree that students should be taught the value of remaining abstinent until marriage, please tell your representative —especially if he or she is on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee —to express support for continued and expanded funding of abstinence education.
The hearing, scheduled April 23 in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will center on whether abstinence education should be sidelined in favor of more funding of comprehensive sex education programs, which emphasize condoms and other forms of contraceptives and often mention abstinence only in passing. Seven individuals on the witness list support comprehensive sex education for students, while only two testifiers favor abstinence education.
ERLC President Richard Land conveyed his support last week for abstinence education programs and called upon members of the committee to “stand with millions of parents and for millions of students in support for abstinence education.”
Abstinence education “has been proven to be effective in reducing teen sexual activity and empowers teens to make healthy relational decisions,” Land stated in an April 17 letter to committee members.
“Abstinence education programs prepare students to make wise decisions by giving them a proper framework on why abstinence-until-marriage is the best choice. These programs often include teachings on meaningful goal-setting, identifying healthy relationships, and the risks of early sexual behavior, such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),” he added.
“In contrast,” Land noted, “comprehensive sex education programs are built largely on false premises that teens will inevitably engage in sexual activity and that they have neither the desire nor the will to remain abstinent.”
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has been among the most outspoken congressional critics of abstinence education. In 2004, he released a study that led many people to believe abstinence education is ineffective and a waste of taxpayer dollars. The Waxman Report, however, proved to be an effort in one-sided reporting by his staff, who cherry-picked data to serve the interests of comprehensive sex-education advocates. While the Waxman Report purports that comprehensive sex education has been effective in delaying teen sexual activity and increasing condom and contraceptive use, those programs have made little impact in reducing teen pregnancy and STD rates.
The report is part of a concerted effort to paint abstinence education as a failure.
“Several studies over the last few years have skewed the facts on abstinence education programs, generating a false impression that they have failed and should be defunded to make more room for comprehensive sex education programs,” stated Land, who pointed to a 2007 Mathematica study that “evaluated only four Title V [abstinence education] programs—still in early stages of development—out of more than 700 that received federal grants, yet promulgated a sweeping conclusion that youth instructed under abstinence programs were no less likely to remain abstinent than youth who did not participate.”
Further, it focused on abstinence programs that were not offered beyond elementary- and middle-school years, Land noted, failing to consider the importance of abstinence programs in high school, when students are more likely to make decisions on sexual behavior.
A large body of evidence refutes claims that abstinence programs are ineffective, including a 2005 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that found the percentage of teens who had ever had sex dropped 13 percent between 1991 and 2005.
Land also highlighted a 2007 Zogby International poll that demonstrated overwhelming support among parents for abstinence education once they are informed of its parameters. The poll, he stated, found that parents support abstinence education over comprehensive sex education by a 2-to-1 margin, and more than 80 percent of parents agreed with the overall approach of abstinence education.
Although Chairman Waxman and others will continue to do their best to poke holes in the results of abstinence education, their arguments are no match for the evidence and public support that attest to the programs. Abstinence education is a win for students, parents, and society.
If you agree that students should be taught the value of remaining abstinent until marriage, please tell your representative —especially if he or she is on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee —to express support for continued and expanded funding of abstinence education.
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