Abstinence Only Education

I hope this is the last posting where I feel compelled to mention Palin. The fact that her daughter is pregnant has drawn some media attention. I think most people would agree that this is a family matter and not really the business of the American people or a situation in which to pass judgement on either the teenage daughter or the parents. Teenagers are dealing with a lot of pressures both social and biological and many of them will have sex. The only problem I see here for Palin is in the hypocrisy of endorsing 'Abstinence-Only Education.'

Clearly it worked quite well for them. But it goes beyond her own family. Palin also opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest. As this Op-Ed in the NYTimes points out, the abstinence-only education movement isn't working. In 2004 65% of parents surveyed said the federal money should spent on comprehensive sex-ed. Abstinence-only doesn't stop teens from having sex and declines to teach them about contraception or protection from STDs. The editorial mentions a 2001 Unicef report in which America ties Hungary for the highest number of abortions but runs behind Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Britain in the number of sexually active teens. These countries have comprehensive sex education and parents aren't burdened by an unnatural stigma when it comes to discussing sex with their children.

This Unicef report is not the only one of it's kind. Other studies appear to tell similar stories. So why then would those who are so vehemently opposed to abortion still want to support abstinence only education?

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