Now Can We Stop Funding Abstinence-Only Ed?

VictoryGin

Once again, we can lower abortion rates by promoting birth control. When are we going to stop with this stupid abstinence-only nonsense?

Birth control credited with drop in teen pregnancy Thu Nov 30, 8:33 PM ET

The dramatic declines in teenage pregnancy rates noted in the United States between 1995 and 2002 were largely due to improved contraceptive use, not to abstinence, a new study shows.

"The current emphasis of U.S. domestic and global policies, which stress abstinence-only sex education to the exclusion of accurate information on contraception, is misguided," warn doctors in a report just released online by the American Journal of Public Health.

Dr. John S. Santelli from Columbia University, New York, and colleagues examined the relative contribution of declining sexual activity and improved contraceptive use to the recent decline in pregnancy rates among U.S. women between the ages of 15 to 19 years. The data were derived from interviews with nearly 1400 women in 1995 and 1150 in 2002.

The investigators estimate that the likelihood of pregnancy in this age group declined 34 percent between 1995 and 2002, and that 86 percent of the decline in pregnancy risk was attributable to improved use of contraception. Reduced sexual activity explained only 14 percent of the decline in teen pregnancy.

Among younger teens 15 to 17 years old, increased contraceptive use was responsible for 77 percent of the pregnancy risk decline while decreased sexual activity was responsible for 23 percent of the decline.

Among 18 to 19-year-olds, the decline in pregnancy risk was entirely due to improved contraceptive use, which includes increases in the use of birth control pills, condoms, or both.

"These data suggest that the U.S. appears to be following patterns seen in other developed countries where increased availability and increased use of modern contraceptives have been primarily responsible for declines in teenage pregnancy rates," Santelli and colleagues write.

"Our findings," they conclude, "raise questions about current U.S. government policies that promote abstinence from sexual activity as the primary strategy to prevent adolescent pregnancy."

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, January 2007.

Ahnimus

I agree, abstinence is the best solution, but not the only one. People will stray from abstinence as their biological beings oblige them to. What we can do as mere observers is provide information pertinent to the act of reproduction, such as birth-control and abstinence.

VictoryGin

Ahnimus wrote:

I agree, abstinence is the best solution, but not the only one. People will stray from abstinence as their biological beings oblige them to. What we can do as mere observers is provide information pertinent to the act of reproduction, such as birth-control and abstinence.

yes. in comprehensive sex education, abstinence is taught as the only 100% effective way to prevent pregnancy and disease, infection, etc. yet, accurate birth control information is also offered. this just bothers me so much. it is such an easy thing we can do to prevent unwanted pregnancy and disease.

Ahnimus

VictoryGin wrote:

yes. in comprehensive sex education, abstinence is taught as the only 100% effective way to prevent pregnancy and disease, infection, etc. yet, accurate birth control information is also offered. this just bothers me so much. it is such an easy thing we can do to prevent unwanted pregnancy and disease.

You can trace most of these kinds of things back to the church. I've had this conversation many times with the creationist dude I work with. He gets really upset and says only "Promescuity is a SIN!" that is the only rationale of a creationist from what I can perceive.

soulsinging

VictoryGin wrote:

Among younger teens 15 to 17 years old, increased contraceptive use was responsible for 77 percent of the pregnancy risk decline while decreased sexual activity was responsible for 23 percent of the decline.

Among 18 to 19-year-olds, the decline in pregnancy risk was entirely due to improved contraceptive use, which includes increases in the use of birth control pills, condoms, or both.

unsurprising. that's the flaw of abstinence. it only works when you still believe you can get grounded for it and then only a little. but once people get to college, they're all goign to fuck like rabbits in heat and there's nothing you can do about it except tell them how not to get knocked up

odds of this changing admin policy are slim though. an investigative panel appointed by the president found the same thing about 5-6 years ago. bush decided to cut funding to the oversight panel, disband it, and gave the money to abstinence programs instead. it must be wonderful to have such an uncanny ability to completely ignore reality!

seagoat2

Ahnimus wrote:

You can trace most of these kinds of things back to the church. I've had this conversation many times with the creationist dude I work with. He gets really upset and says only "Promescuity is a SIN!" that is the only rationale of a creationist from what I can perceive.

What does he say to a teen girl whose only had sex once in her life & becomes pregnant? Does one encounter with her boyfriend make her promiscuous? Puhleeze!

Abstinance is a great way to keep from getting pregnant & preventing disease, but it's not very practical......IMO, if teens are going to have sex (and eventually many will).....they have a right to know about anything that will help protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy & STD's. It's not just an unplanned pregnancy they're faced with if they don't use birth control, it's a threat to thier lives from contracting AIDS!!

surferdude

soulsinging wrote:

unsurprising. that's the flaw of abstinence. it only works when you still believe you can get grounded for it and then only a little. but once people get to college, they're all goign to fuck like rabbits in heat and there's nothing you can do about it except tell them how not to get knocked up

odds of this changing admin policy are slim though. an investigative panel appointed by the president found the same thing about 5-6 years ago. bush decided to cut funding to the oversight panel, disband it, and gave the money to abstinence programs instead. it must be wonderful to have such an uncanny ability to completely ignore reality!

This administration must be doing something right if the rate of teen pregnancy keeps going down during Bush's tenure. People get so caught up in this issue it's funny. Here we have good news and people still laying blame on Bush.

VictoryGin wrote:

Once again, we can lower abortion rates by promoting birth control.

Why should this be a goal? There are no moral qualms regarding abortion, so if this is the method a woman chooses as birth control for her body who are we to try to tell her there may be better ways. I don't like the connotation this attitude places on women who have had abortions, i.e. the attitude of it's okay you had an abortion but if you weren't so ignorant about birth control it wouldn't have been necessary.

miller8966

I think promoting abstinence is a good idea especially at the grammar school level.

inmytree

miller8966 wrote:

I think promoting abstinence is a good idea especially at the grammar school level.

really...?

"ok 3rd grade class, we are going to learn that sex is bad, mmkay, keep your little winky to yourself, little fella's, and girls, keep those legs closed...cause sex is bad, mmmkay..."

VictoryGin

surferdude wrote:

This administration must be doing something right if the rate of teen pregnancy keeps going down during Bush's tenure. People get so caught up in this issue it's funny. Here we have good news and people still laying blame on Bush.

the bush administration is not helping with contraception.

surferdude wrote:

Why should this be a goal? There are no moral qualms regarding abortion, so if this is the method a woman chooses as birth control for her body who are we to try to tell her there may be better ways. I don't like the connotation this attitude places on women who have had abortions, i.e. the attitude of it's okay you had an abortion but if you weren't so ignorant about birth control it wouldn't have been necessary.

we've already been through this. oh that's right, you never did come back with those stats, huh?

surferdude

VictoryGin wrote:

the bush administration is not helping with contraception.

Well if Bush isn't then Clinton certainly didn't either. Because the figures are better than any time Clinton was in power. Maybe Bush's approach works because it puts the responsibility for education regarding birth control where it belongs, on the individual and the parents/guardians. It's amazing the effect treating people like responsible adults can have.

VictoryGin

surferdude wrote:

Well if Bush isn't then Clinton certainly didn't either. Because the figures are better than any time Clinton was in power. Maybe Bush's approach works because it puts the responsibility for education regarding birth control where it belongs, on the individual and the parents/guardians. It's amazing the effect treating people like responsible adults can have.

from the article:
The dramatic declines in teenage pregnancy rates noted in the United States between 1995 and 2002 were largely due to improved contraceptive use, not to abstinence, a new study shows.

so this was during clinton's time. and 2002, being only 2 years after clinton left, would include teens educated during clinton's time.

edit: by the way, bush isn't putting the education in the parents' hands. he's funding abstinence-only education, where you guessed it, abstinence only is preached, and inaccurate and misleading information is often presented (not just according to me, but to a government panel that evaluated the program).

soulsinging

VictoryGin wrote:

from the article:
The dramatic declines in teenage pregnancy rates noted in the United States between 1995 and 2002 were largely due to improved contraceptive use, not to abstinence, a new study shows.

so this was during clinton's time. and 2002, being only 2 years after clinton left, would include teens educated during clinton's time.

edit: by the way, bush isn't putting the education in the parents' hands. he's funding abstinence-only education, where you guessed it, abstinence only is preached, and inaccurate and misleading information is often presented (not just according to me, but to a government panel that evaluated the program).

im not sure, but im pretty sure surferdude just got owned. not to mention, it's funny that you point out that he never could find stats to rebuttal your original stance an he totally ignores that... again.

darkcrow

if you are going to teach sex education then you need to teach it all. of course if you dont have sex then you wont get an STI but if you are going to ahve sex then do the right thing and use protection. i went to catholic school and they did not teach sex education at all except to say "DONT DO IT!" but my science teacher was cool, he said: "hey guys i cant tell you to use condoms becuase it is a catholic school... but dont be stupid, use one." what a dude.

Ahnimus

seagoat2 wrote:

What does he say to a teen girl whose only had sex once in her life & becomes pregnant? Does one encounter with her boyfriend make her promiscuous? Puhleeze!

Abstinance is a great way to keep from getting pregnant & preventing disease, but it's not very practical......IMO, if teens are going to have sex (and eventually many will).....they have a right to know about anything that will help protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy & STD's. It's not just an unplanned pregnancy they're faced with if they don't use birth control, it's a threat to thier lives from contracting AIDS!!

Yea, the implications are far greater than a single premature pregnancy or contraction of AIDS. An unwanted pregnancy faces all kinds of moral struggles for a pregnant mother, many will continue to raise the child raising issues of proper child-rearing. If the baby was conceived in an environment not prepared to support the genesis of life, the baby could suffer a wide scale of physical or mental impairments. Even a mother's age can impact the growth of the child. Substance abuse and even stress can add to the prenatal environment. Many things that a mother consumes herself is capable of traversing the placenta, resulting in the babies consumption as well.

Then there are the psychological implications of having a non-structured and non-supportive child-rearing environment. The list goes on, there are so many things to consider and adapt to that an unplanned pregnancy may not be attuned for. Both the mothers mental and physical maturation and so on.

Most teens in North America learn about sex from their peers. The sexual education school systems some times provide are limited to abstinence only. Teens learn about condoms and other contraceptive from their peers. Few learn from their parents. This is dangerous, because inexperienced, uneducated people are fooling around with the creation of life and all the implications that go with it.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm going to bed

Uncle Leo

miller8966 wrote:

I think promoting abstinence is a good idea especially at the grammar school level.

I agree with this 100%. Promoting abstinance IS a good idea. It should be a major piller of any sex-ed.

It's a key part of the solution. Just not the only part. And imo, teaching about protection and birth control does not contradict the promotion of abstinance.

Vedderlution_Baby

You Pro-life? Good. Promote birth control AS WELL as abstinence. If you aren't willing to do that, you aren't willing to have the abortion rates go even lower.

I don't know why everyone thinks that being pro-choice means you WANT abortions. Everyone wants less abortions.

surferdude

Vedderlution_Baby! wrote:

I don't know why everyone thinks that being pro-choice means you WANT abortions. Everyone wants less abortions.

Why do you care if abortion rates go lower unless you have an issue with abortions?

Vedderlution_Baby

surferdude wrote:

Why do you care if abortion rates go lower unless you have an issue with abortions?

Because for me, less abortions means less unwanted babies.

Hopefully this will equal out to people having more pregnancies that are planned, which enables a child to grow up and develop in a healthy household rather than one where the parent is not able to efficiently take care of the child because of unpreparedness.


It would be nice if every time someone got pregnant, they were happy and ready for it to happen.

soulsinging

surferdude wrote:

Why do you care if abortion rates go lower unless you have an issue with abortions?

becos it's a relatively serious relative medical procedure. come on, that's like saying, "why eat healthy when you can just have a quadruple bypass if you need it?"

Collin

Promoting abstinence only doesn't sound like sex ed at all, it sounds like anti-sex ed.