New Report Oversimplifies Cause for Increase in Teen Birth Rate
Washington, DC (January 25, 2010) — New data analysis released today reports a rise in teen pregnancy and birth rates. The report also offers an analysis of the causes behind this increase. Anti-abstinence groups lost no time blaming abstinence-centered education for this troubling trend. However, contraceptive sex education received more than four times the funding of abstinence education, even during the Bush years. Therefore, the simplistic charge in today’s report rings hollow, attributing 100% of the blame to the approach that received only 25% of the money.
While it is understandable that opponents of the approach would like to naively lay wholesale blame on abstinence education as the cause for higher teen birth rates, the reality is that teen sex is a complicated issue enmeshed in numerous social and cultural factors.
“This simplistic charge demonstrates a tragic disregard of the many factors that contribute to the increase in teen pregnancy and birth rates. It is truly unfortunate that special interest groups are more concerned in using this pressing issue to advance their own anti-abstinence agenda, rather than to devote their energies to finding real solutions,” notes Valerie Huber, Executive Director of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA). Unfortunately, the message of abstinence has been belittled, censored, and mocked as unrealistic, by groups disingenuously using research to misconstrue reality.
The misguided zeal of the Guttmacher Institute mistakenly elevates the promotion of contraception over the promotion of delaying sexual activity. This error in emphasis ignores the clear research which shows that empowering teens to delay sex is a much more protective factor than latex, a distinction plainly made by abstinence programs. Even Douglas Kirby, the primary researcher for contraceptive sex education, confessed in Guttmacher’s own journal, “it may actually be easier to delay the onset of intercourse than to increase contraceptive practice[1].”
Huber added: “Research unmistakably indicates that delaying sexual initiation rates and reducing the total number of lifetime partners is more valuable in protecting the sexual health of young people, than simply passing out condoms.”
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Contact:Rachel Turner
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