BASIC logic suggests that, having identified a specific goal, the method proven most effective should be the one used to reach that goal. Apparently the Bush administration does not agree.
In outlining his budget proposal for the coming year, President Bush allocated an additional $135 million to help prevent teen pregnancy, a 33 percent increase. In a country with the highest teen pregnancy rates of any developed nation, Bush's goal is admirable. Unfortunately, his method is less than sound.
The funds allocated for sex education will be directed solely to abstinence-only programs. These programs, however, have not been proven effective in reducing incidents of teen pregnancy.
Responding to the president's plan, Vice President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Susan Martinez said that while the organization was enthusiastic that the president was addressing the issue, "there is no credible evidence that abstinence-only programs have any impact on reducing teen pregnancy" ("Bush Budget Boosts Funds for US Abstinence Program," Reuters, Jan. 31).
The Bush administration's plan also ignores government studies on the issue. A report by Surgeon General David Satcher stressed the need for broad-based sex education. The White House refused to back the report when it was issued last June. A non-partisan group, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, also found that programs including both abstinence and contraception information were the only ones proven effective.
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Bush's refusal to sway from campaign promises, despite studies indicating that he's not taking the right approach, is deliberate and unabashed. According to Newsweek, when asked why Bush had insisted that only reading programs with a proven track record would get federal funding, but felt it appropriate to ignore similar standards for sex education, a top advisor grinned and commented, "values trump data" ("Periscope," Feb. 11).
This attitude is arrogant and irresponsible. If the Bush administration truly were interested in curbing teen pregnancy, it would support the option most likely to do so. Its greatest concern, however, is advancing a moral agenda and appeasing the voters that put the administration in the White House. If Bush and his cohorts wish to promote abstinence as the only moral way to prevent pregnancy, they should say so; granting $135 million to abstinence-only education is a great way to achieve that goal. Preventing teen pregnancy, however, is better served by broader sex education.
Back in June, when the Bush administration decided not to back the Surgeon General's report, White House spokesman Ari Fletcher said that the president "believes the only surefire way to prevent pregnancy [is] through abstinence" (Reuters, Jan. 31). Any reasonably intelligent adult knows that abstinence is the only 100 percent sure method of avoiding pregnancy. Unfortunately, many teens do not.
Abstinence-only education refuses to discuss contraception, so it does not inform students that condoms and birth control pills are not guaranteed to prevent pregnancy and STDs. Both abstinence-plus education and sexual education programs that include information on both abstinence and contraception give students this information; not as a scare tactic, but as a tool.
Teenagers are having sex. If they weren't, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would not be able to report more than 800,000 teenage pregnancies each year. The best way to combat this problem is through information, as Planned Parenthood, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the Surgeon General all conclude. Giving students only half the information, providing only half the options, does not allow them to make sound decisions.
At its worst, abstinence-only education seeks to bully and frighten teens at a time when they are most inclined to rebel. At its best, abstinence-plus education teaches that abstinence is the only guaranteed birth control method, but informs students about their other options, should they choose to have sex.
Research thus far indicates that abstinence-only education is not effective. In its quest to end teenage pregnancy, the Bush administration should heed the advice of groups who have researched sex education methods. If it blindly refuses to do so, it should at least admit that its primary concern is moral and political and not health-related.
(Megan Moyer's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mmoyer@cavalierdaily.com.)
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