Get Real Planned Parenthood, Abstinance Only Works, Not the Garbage You Promote

'Abstinence Plus' is the wrong approach

VIEWPOINTBy LISA EVERETT

Planned Parenthood of Indiana has launched a campaign called "Get Real, Indiana!" to promote "comprehensive" sexuality education in our schools which includes information about contraception (see http://www.getrealindiana.org/). The Sept. 4 Viewpoint, "Abstinence Plus can help break cycle of poverty" by Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, is an attempt to promote this campaign in our local community.

Planned Parenthood and others who advocate "Abstinence Plus" sex education claim that providing information about contraception to teens will delay the onset of sexual activity and reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy. But according to an analysis by Michael Schwartz, then director of the Child and Family Policy Division of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, a 1986 survey conducted for Planned Parenthood by Louis Harris found that the rate of sexual activity among teens who took a "comprehensive" sexuality education course was more than one-third higher than among teens who either had no sex education in school, or who had taken a course that taught about reproduction but left out the promotion of contraception.

Swartz's analysis shows that, even if abstinence is encouraged, teaching teens how to use contraception is like speaking out of both sides of one's mouth. Simply put, teens who are taught in school how to use contraception believe that they are being given permission to have sex as long as they use "protection." More teens having sex inevitably leads to higher rates of teen pregnancy, abortion and STDs because, to be highly effective, contraceptives have to be used correctly and consistently.
According to the journal Family Planning Perspectives, the "typical use" failure rate for teens using condoms to prevent pregnancy is more than 18 percent. A 2006 review by Kirby and Rolleri of 50 well-designed evaluation studies of "comprehensive" sex education programs in the United States going back to 1990 found that none of the programs increased the prevalence of consistent condom use among adolescents for a period greater than one year.

Recent studies in England also have reaffirmed that increased access to contraception for teens leads to higher pregnancy and abortion rates, as well as a dramatic increase in STD rates among 16- to 19-year-old girls.

But the most significant problem with promoting contraception among teens is that it ignores the emotional and spiritual dimensions of sex. Recent research in the field of biochemistry has shown clearly that chemicals released during sexual activity, such as oxytocin and vasopressin, permanently alter body chemistry and promote strong emotional bonding between the partners. Once these bonds are established, disrupting them causes terrible distress. Surely we want to protect our teens from the kind of heartbreak that even many adults find devastating.

More importantly, "A Scientific Review of Abstinence and Abstinence Programs" provides "clear and compelling research that abstinence is not merely about avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, but more significantly it is about helping teens prepare for a future marriage and family. ... Abstinence before marriage is linked to stronger and more satisfying families, according to a growing body of research. Specifically, adolescents and adults who abstain from sex before marriage are more likely to enjoy better family relationships, and are also more likely to provide a good family life to any children that they bring into the world." The 2008 analysis was done by Bradford Wilcox, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia.

Abstinence-only advocates are often criticized as not living in the "real world." But in the real world, teens tend to live up to our expectations if we raise the bar high, and they tend to live down to our expectations if we lower that bar.

Surely in this most important area of education in sexuality, our teens deserve parents and teachers who raise the bar high and help them to reach it.

Lisa Everett is co-director of the Office of Family Life for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne—South Bend.