At 02:09 PM 3/12/2004 -0800 Deborah Harrell wrote:
>I am likewise incensed that *my* tax dollars go to
>fund abstinence-only programs (which in MN at least
>have failed to prevent teen pregnancy - see my post on
>the ENABL report), and faith-based anything, as these
>violate 'separation of church and state.'
First, the is no a priori religious connection to abstinence. There are a
number of very sound reasons for strongly advising high school students -
and younger, to not have sex.
Secondly, even the recent study of "virginity pledges" found that
abstinence-only education was successful in prolonging the first incident
of intercourse and had fewer sexual partners - which may well both be
worthy goals. In addition, it is worth noting that non-abstinence programs
tend to overlook the fact that condoms are not effective at preventing a
number of serious STD's. I should note, however, that I am very skeptical
of this study, as it found that 99% of non-pledgers had sex before marriage
and a whopping 88% of pledgers had sex before marriage. Those numbers
don't appear to add up to me..... 93-97% of all teenagers having sex before
marriage?????
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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