{"id":221,"date":"2009-10-02T10:22:25","date_gmt":"2009-10-02T17:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/?p=221"},"modified":"2010-11-19T13:14:49","modified_gmt":"2010-11-19T20:14:49","slug":"abstaining-from-evidence-during-national-sex-education-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2009\/10\/02\/abstaining-from-evidence-during-national-sex-education-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Abstaining from evidence during National Sex Education week"},"content":{"rendered":"

I learned this morning\u00a0that this first week of October is National Sex Education week (I’m not sure how these weeks get to be declared, but a quick google search confirms that a number of reproductive health organizations are on board).<\/p>\n

In what seems to NOT be a coincidence in timing, Rebublican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah introduced a proposal this week to restore $50 million a year in federal funding to abstinence-only sex education <\/a>(the same funding that Obama has vowed to eliminate).<\/p>\n

In his statement to the press<\/a>, Hatch proclaims that:<\/p>\n

\"Orrin<\/p>\n

“Abstinence education works”\u00a0 … “My amendment restores a vital funding stream so that teens and parents have the option to participate in programs that have demonstrated success in reducing teen sexual activity and, consequently, teen pregnancies.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In response to this news, Elisabeth Garber-Paul of RH Reality Check<\/a> writes:<\/p>\n

I thought we all decided that abstinence only education\u00a0doesn\u2019t work.<\/a> And I don\u2019t mean \u201cwe\u201d as in the pro-choice reproductive rights community\u2014I mean students, teachers, parents, school boards, and even the president.<\/p>\n

But I guess some members of congress didn\u2019t get the memo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It *is* really striking how, even in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, Abstinence-only proponents insist that this form of education “works.”<\/p>\n

But this is because the movement toward more abstinence-only approaches is driven almost entirely by conservative religious ideology, not scientifically reliable evidence.<\/p>\n

Virtually no public health professionals and no credible scientific assessments support it (Santelli et al 2006c). In fact, public health scholars broadly support comprehensive sex education (Duberstein et al 2006) and have offered vociferous critiques of abstinence based approaches and policies, both domestically (Fortenberry 2005; Santelli et al. 2006 et al. 2006a; 2006b; Dworkin and Santelli 2007) and internationally (Human Rights Watch 2004; Cohen and Tate, 2005). The majority of parents in the United States also report that they prefer comprehensive sex education for their children (Henry Kaiser Family Foundation 1998; National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy 2003).<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Hatch’s proposal (which barely<\/strong> passed in the Senate Finance Committee by 12-11), will still need House and Senate approval. Let’s hope that our Representatives in the House and Senate consult with credible public health researchers before they vote on this important topic.<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

Bibliography:<\/strong><\/p>\n