Don’t Believe the Hype, Abstinence Education Works!

In the next five months, the mainstream media will be bombarded with articles about how abstinence education doesn’t work. Since November’s election, organizations with a track record of being against abstinence funding like Planned Parenthood, SEICUS, and the American Social Health Association are demanding that federal funding for the so called abstinence-only programs be eliminated. Title V of the Social Security Act is where states get money for abstinence education. They give some of that money away in the form of grants. Worth the Wait has received this money since 1998. As this act was set to expire, the prior congress extended funding for abstinence in December, but only until June of 2007 when the newly-elected congress will take up the matter.

The deluge of anti-abstinence articles has already started with a recent article from the Guttmacher Institute proclaiming that of the 99% of people who had sex by age 44, 95% had sex before marriage. Never mind there is a huge difference between an adult having premarital sex and a middle school student, but somehow Guttmacher thinks their results mean we shouldn’t even try to get teens not to have sex before marriage.

This logic flies in the face of every health promotion program in the country. Could you imagine using the same logic with obesity and smoking prevention programs? Since 50% of the American population is overweight, according to the Guttmacher logic, we should just throw in the towel and not even try to encourage healthy eating. Since some people will smoke anyway, Guttmacher logic would dictate we don’t even try to tell them not to smoke or educate them about the health risks of smoking. 

The reason obesity and smoking prevention programs exist is that promoting the healthiest behavior can save millions of dollars in eventual treatment of the consequences of obesity and smoking. The question is why are abstinence programs held to a different standard? Our state spent 19 billion dollars for teen pregnancy in 2004, the most of any state. If abstinence education works, then our state and nation stand to reap the benefits.

And there is ample research showing abstinence education IS working. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data in 2003 showing that the percentage of teens who reported they have had sex decreased from 54% in the early 1990s to 46 percent, a significant reversal that coincided with increased federal funding of abstinence programs. Another study in Adolescent & Family Health concluded that abstinence was the catalyst for a drop in the teen birth rate from 1991-1995. The study credited abstinence as the catalyst in 67 percent of the teen birth rate drop. Even our own local research with Baylor University shows a 40% decrease in teen sexual activity in middle schools in Amarillo ISD in the last three years.

Also, there are so many benefits to being abstinent as a teen. Studies from the Heritage Foundation have shown a correlation between teen sexual activity and school expulsion, depression, and suicide attempts. In addition, students who remained virgins were twice as likely to graduate from college than those who didn’t. Add in the consequences of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and it just makes sense to promote abstinence from sex for teens.

The truth is this battle is not about what works to prevent teen sexual activity, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. This battle is all about money. This is laughable in light of the fact that federal, state, and local governments spend about $12 to promote comprehensive sex education for every $1 spent to encourage abstinence until marriage.

So the battleground has been set.  You can help us by calling your congressional representatives and letting them know that abstinence programs should continue to be funded under Title V of the Social Security Act. After all, we’re talking about our teens. Don’t they deserve to hear that abstinence until marriage is the best way to prevent the consequences of teen sexual activity and ensure a healthy future? 

www.house.gov

www.house.gov/thornberry