Honesty about abstinence-only

To confront the apparent failures of these programs is not to give up on teen abstinence as a standard.

from the April 24, 2007 edition

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Critics of abstinence-only have used the study to say, "I told you so!"

"This is social agenda masquerading as teen pregnancy prevention," said Martha Kempner of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US. "This administration has allowed ideology to trump science." Voices on the other side have called for the programs to continue. And a top federal official, commenting that the study lacked rigor, said the government has no intention of changing funding priorities in light of the study – which was conducted for the US Department of Health and Human Services.

So where do we go from here?

To confront the apparent failures of abstinence programs is not to give up on teen abstinence as a standard.

The welfare reform that led to these classes was a collaboration between President Clinton and a Republican Congress. Now the Bush administration, faced with allegations of ignoring science, has an opportunity to refute that charge by heeding these findings and retooling its efforts.

It may be that sex education that includes abstinence is more useful than abstinence-only classes. The head of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy said Mathematica's research supports what other studies show: "The most effective programs are those that say abstinence is the best choice but birth control and protection are also worth knowing about."

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