GENERAL STUFF: Abstinence-only Education Losing Ground

Apparently you need to have scientific basis these days to prove that your federally funded abstinence only education program works...

From a Newsweek article...

In this largely rural corner of the state, it's hard not to go through Longview, a town of 78,000 residents, four Dairy Queens and two high schools—and the birthplace of Virginity Rules, which sponsored these roadside praises of teen abstinence and hosted kid-led virginity campaigns. They represented a small slice of the more than $1 billion George W. Bush has bestowed on abstinence education. But even without a looming budget crisis, the next chief executive may not be so dedicated to the cause. Barack Obama supports comprehensive sex ed. And while Sarah Palin said she opposed "explicit sex-ed programs" in 2006, aides now say both Palin and her running mate, John McCain, back federal funding for programs that "promote abstinence as the best option" but also include "information on contraception." For true believers in the wait-for-marriage camp, that's hardly comforting.

Although the world has recently preoccupied itself with sex education in Alaska, it is here, in my home state of Texas, where the battle over abstinence is most pitched. This is the ground where then governor Bush first became abstinence education's most powerful champion. The state draws the biggest share of federal abstinence funds by far, and nearly 95 percent of public school districts teach only abstinence, according to research from the Texas Freedom Network. If the policy fails, no state stands to lose more of its infrastructure for sex education.

Abstinence is a pipe dream these days.

But sometimes I worry it shouldn't be.