AN ABSTINENCE OF IGNORANCE

President Barack Obama's proposed 2010 budget would shift sex-education funding from abstinence-only programs to programs focused on reducing the number of teenage pregnancies. "The program will fund models that stress the importance of abstinence while providing medically accurate and age-appropriate information to youth who have already become sexually active," according to Obama senior advisers.

Obama wants to eliminate a $38 million state grant program plus a nearly $100 million pot of money that is supposed to be spent for abstinence education at the direction of the Administration for Children and Families, part of the Health and Human Services Department.
He would create a new $110 million "teen pregnancy prevention initiative," plus direct $50 million to states for pregnancy prevention programs.
The most positive results, Obama's budget plan asserts, come from programs that "provide a range of services in addition to comprehensive sex education, such as after school activities, academic support or service learning."

The Obama position is borne out by a recent poll by Mathematica Policy Research Inc, who found that children who took part in sex abstinence classes were found to be just as likely to engage in sexual intercourse for the first time at the same age as children who did not receive these classes, in a study the US Congress had ordered. According to this latest research, teenagers first had sex at the age of 14.9 years, regardless of whether they attended sex abstinence classes.

Does this mean we teach them that abstinence is impossible given that we are only human beings? Of course not. Does it mean we stress the availability and safety of abortion clinics? Of course not. But it should mean that we let today's children know that there are ways to express their sexuality and desires without the risk of pregnancy. And if this makes you uncomfortable, lets hope you don't have a daughter, like abstinence supporter Governor Palin. That worked out real well.....