Abstinence Classes a Bust

Staff / Truthdig Apr 14, 2007 So much for just saying no as a sex education policy: A large-scale congressional study of the effects of costly abstinence education programs in American schools concluded that one or two years of classroom indoctrination had no significant impact on if and when teens have sex. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

95% of Americans Have Had Premarital Sex

Staff / Truthdig Dec 20, 2006 A new study of 38,000 Americans has found that 95 percent had premarital sex, challenging the wisdom of the abstinence-only sex education programs favored by the Bush administration According to the study's author: "It would be more effective to provide young people with the skills and information they need to be safe once they become sexually active -- which nearly everyone eventually will". Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Bush Appoints Pro-Abstinence Family Planning Chief

Staff / Truthdig Nov 18, 2006 The Bush administration has selected a doctor, above, who opposes premarital sex, contraception and abortion to direct the $283-million office that oversees programs for teen pregnancy, family planning and abstinence programs. This despite the fact that 80 percent of Americans want contraception taught in sex ed classes. ALSO: If you haven't vomited yet today, check out Abstinence.net. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush & Co. Pushing Abstinence on Adults

Staff / Truthdig Oct 31, 2006 The federal government is expanding the scope of its abstinence programs to people up to age 29 -- proving yet again that the federal government takes its marching orders from Christian evangelicals who believe that Jesus is offended by premarital sex. (h/t: Huff Po) A relevant aside: H.L. Mencken defined puritanism as "the haunting fear that somebody, somewhere, is having a good time." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

65 Pregnant Students = End to Abstinence-Only Education

Staff / Truthdig Aug 18, 2006 An Ohio school board voted to allow discussion of contraception in sex education classes upon learning that 13% of one high school's female students were pregnant. Earlier: Congress declines to fund abstinence only-programs Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Ellen Goodman: Putting a Wedge Between the Right and Loony Right

Ellen Goodman / Truthdig Jul 20, 2006 The columnist says Bush's veto of the stem cell bill has set him apart from his colleagues in the GOP and put him squarely in the ranks of the loony right. She also takes on a range of other "wedge issues" that have proved so divisive as to end up dividing even the staunchest conservatives. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Sanity: House Doesn’t Up Funds for Abstinence-Only Programs

Staff / Truthdig Jun 18, 2006 Maybe it was towering piles of evidence attesting to the fact that virginity pledges don't work, but whatever it was, Congress declined to add more funds to abstinence-until-marriage programs. (Via Salon.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Virginity Pledgers Often Dishonest About Their Past

Staff / Truthdig Jun 5, 2006 Yet more evidence that the abstinence-until-marriage crowd is deluding itself into believing that virginity pledges have any real value. (Above, virginity pledgers and their fathers at a so-called purity ball.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gene Gerard: Abstaining from Sex Education Politics

Gene Gerard / Truthdig Jun 2, 2006 New Truthdig contributor Gene Gerard, a longtime college professor of history, religion and ethics, examines the efforts of conservative legislators to stifle discussion of contraceptives in public schools--in favor of abstinence-only education. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Abstinence War Room

Staff / Truthdig May 25, 2006 Check out this documentary about a faith-based abstinence program that religious-right forces installed in New Mexico public schools. Watch for the part about the covert "purity" war room. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Christian Sex Author: Time to Retool Abstinence Pledges

Staff / Truthdig May 22, 2006 An Op-Ed writer in The N Times says that it's no wonder chastity vows don't work: Christian communities don't meaningfully support those who make them . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Teen Sex Less Risky in Europe Than U.S.

Staff / Truthdig May 18, 2006 Western European teens have fewer pregnancies, and lower levels of STDs, than their American counterparts. Why? Because teens in Europe have easy access to contraceptives, confidential healthcare and comprehensive sex education. Teen sex is seen as a healthy thing. (Compare that to America's puritanical, ineffective abstinence programs.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )