Of all the components of President George W. Bush’s ’faith-based’ initiative, none has failed more miserably than abstinence-based education.
The announcement by Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant has drawn an interesting response from the Religious Right: It’s no big deal.
James Dobson of Focus on the Family issued a statement lauding the Palins and asserting, “Being a Christian does not mean you’re perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord.”
Richard Land, chief lobbyist for the Southern Baptist Convention added, “I don’t think it [hurts] at all….Pro-life people don’t see a baby as punishment.”
Still others have insisted that the matter is a private one that should not be an issue for public debate.
But it will be an issue, and it should be. Here’s why: Public policy questions are implicated. Sarah Palin, as a candidate for governor of Alaska, expressed her opposition to comprehensive sex education in public schools. She told the Eagle Forum she would support only “abstinence based” sex education and remarked, “The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.”
Of all the components of President George W. Bush’s “faith-based” initiative, none has failed more miserably than abstinence-based education. Many of the programs are thinly veiled religious dogma. Study after study has shown them to be ineffective.
To top it off, the American public does not support this approach. Polls show majorities backing comprehensive sex education for teens, programs that stress the need for abstinence yet also talk about contraceptives and ways to prevent pregnancy and the transmission of disease.
Despite this, federal tax dollars continue to be poured down the “abstinence-only” rat hole. About two months ago, “The Wall of Separation” reported on a $1.1 million Justice Department grant that went to an organization called “Best Friends.” Best Friends’ main job seems to be holding a fund-raising gala every year to pay for more abstinence-only programs. It is run by the wife of former GOP Education Secretary and “drug czar” William Bennett.
Anyone who is the parent of a teenaged daughter – and I am – can’t help but feel for what the Palin family is going through right now. At the same time, we would be naïve not to acknowledge that what we teach – or don’t teach – our young people can have dramatic consequences.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, there are more than 729,000 teen pregnancies annually. Most of these pregnancies are unplanned. Comprehensive sex education would not have blocked every one of them, of course, but it’s a safe bet it would have prevented some. But right now, under federal law, we can’t spend even one dime of tax money on these programs.
That’s the real issue worth talking about during this campaign.
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