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The Politics in Sex
(Condensed from e-mail.)
Consider the following:
According to the latest figures, the number of abortions world-wide has dropped, due primarily to the use of effective contraception.
Meanwhile, the Bush Administration, which has a major goal of reducing abortion, has just appointed a person to head the Family Planning Division of the Human Services Department that's opposed to funding contraception.
According to a study released in March, 2008, three million teen girls in the United States have a sexually transmitted disease. That's one in every four teen girls. "Just say no" clearly isn't working and we know that realistic sex education (where it hasn't been opposed) has proven much more effective.*
However, bowing to conservative religious groups the Administration has poured hundreds-of-millions of dollars into the "just say no" or abstinence approach while cutting back on the funding for realistic sex education.
Does the "just say no" or abstinence approach work?
Not only do most young people who sign abstinence pledges break them within one year, but by not being prepared with realistic sex education, some studies suggest that STDs and pregnancy are higher in this group. (People who don't think they will need to know safe sex practices, and are even discouraged from learning about them, are obviously at a disadvantage when they are needed.)
It's amazing how in the face of politics and conservative religious views scientific research (and even human welfare) can be deemed irrelevant.
And, by the way, aren't these the same people who didn't believe in global warming?
*According to the Huston Chronicle, Texas spends $17 million annually on abstinence-only sex education -- more than any other state. At the same time, sexual intercourse among Texas high school students is significantly higher than the national average.
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