Abstinence is one of God’s Laws. And true freedom means following that Law. Rebecca Hagelin has a column that includes a quote form Leslee Unruh as the godless left tries to attack God’s Truth in congressional hearings regarding sex education indoctrination:
Who could argue with the idea that, when it comes to sex education, our teenagers should be taught to say "no"? Considering what's at stake (their health, their future, their dignity as human beings, their morality) – and because we love them and want what's best for them, nothing short of a clear-cut abstinence message will do.
At least, that's how it appears out here in the Real World. In the rarified air of a congressional hearing room, it's another matter. According to several witnesses (including John Santelli of the Guttmacher Institute and Max Siegel of the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families) who spoke recently before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, abstinence education is not only impractical, it's dangerous.
Many critics of the abstinence-only programs that have been federally funded over the past 11 years resort to the old kids-will-be-kids argument. They'll "do it anyway," we're told, so we're wasting time and money on an idealistic charade. Worse, we're depriving our rutting youth of the "protection" they need to make their unions non-fruitful and disease-free.
Lawmakers didn't hear from actual teenagers, though. "The greatest failure of this committee was not allowing those that were being talked about – the teens themselves – the opportunity to share how and why abstinence programs have worked for them," said Leslee Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse. "I saw abstinent young adults in the audience appearing frustrated, saying they wish they could share their opinion on this matter."
A quick review of the resulting coverage finds that the witnesses' agenda has a receptive audience among the media. Typical headlines include "Abstinence-only sex ed discredited" (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Indiana), "A real-world solution to teenage pregnancy" (Houston Chronicle) and "Abstinence-only education not enough" (Rapid City Journal, South Dakota).
I hate to interrupt their collective dream with something as inconvenient as the facts. Actual research, however, shows that the abstinence message works.
In a major new paper, Christine Kim and Robert Rector of The Heritage Foundation sifted carefully through numerous studies on the effectiveness of abstinence programs and found clear evidence that they work. "In addition to teaching the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage, abstinence programs focus on developing character traits that prepare youths for future-oriented goals," the researchers write.
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