All good things come to an end, they say. Unfortunately for abstinence education, that time is now. To the cheers of groups like Planned Parenthood, today marks the official end of Title V abstinence funding, which was created back in 1996 to help spread the “save sex” message in the states. As Cheryl Wetzstein notes in her Washington Times column, the Obama administration has asked that the millions in Title V and Community-Based Abstinence Education funding be redirected to so-called “pregnancy prevention programs.”
The shift is particularly devastating to abstinence programs, which will now have to rely on private and local support. But don’t count out the grassroots backlash just yet. Parents see the value of abstinence education even if this administration does not. By huge margins, a 2007 Zogby poll found that 80% of moms and dads think that sex education should place more emphasis on abstinence education.
Countries like India agree. This month, its government was appalled at the U.N.’s idea of incorporating Western-style curriculum on sex ed in their schools, saying the content “shocked their consciences” and “promotes promiscuity of the worst kind.” Sadly, that’s a lesson that the U.S. government has yet to learn. Leaders like President Obama believe that if we mitigate teen pregnancy, everything will be alright. To the contrary, the price society pays for premarital sex is far more than teen and out-of-wedlock births. Even those who avoid the consequences of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy still suffer negative psychological ones like decreased marital satisfaction and higher rates of depression.
Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article was excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.
