Success of abstinence in cutting teen pregnancies is a 'myth'

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 01/12/2006 | Sarah Womack

[Mrs Ivan]

Sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenage pregnancy is a complete "myth", the Government's advisory body on the issue claimed yesterday.

The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy said that research from the United States showed that contraception was the way to bring down rates. Researchers from Columbia University and the Guttmacher Institute examined the relative roles of abstinence and contraceptive use in the "remarkable decline" in US teenage pregnancy rates, which dropped 27 per cent from 1991 to 2000. They said that 86 per cent of the decline in teenage pregnancy was due to improved use of contraception.

Only 14 per cent of the drop amongst 15- to 19-year-olds was linked to reduced sexual activity, according to the study, published in the latest edition of the American Journal of Public Health

Gill Frances, the chairman of the British advisory group, said: "Providing young people with good information, advice and contraceptive services, is the way to reduce teenage pregnancy.

"It is a myth that abstinence is a better approach and this US study confirms it."

Her group's comments provoked a furious response from those who believe that it is better to encourage young people to abstain from sex until they are older, or even until they are married.

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said that in its zeal to promote contraception as the mark of sexual responsibility, the sex education establishment had "cheapened sex and lost sight of its purpose as an expression of the total self-giving of a husband and wife to each other in the context of life-long marriage". He said: "Parents have a major part to play in protecting their children from sexual imagery in the media and mitigating peer pressure, but their role is being severely hampered by Government policy."

In Britain, experts say that the Government missed its target of cutting the under-18 pregnancy rate by 15 per cent from its 1998 level in spite of the £150 million campaign to reduce pregnancies among young girls. It was also likely to miss its target of halving teenage pregnancies by 2010, probably achieving a reduction of about 17 per cent.

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Anyone who claims that a 14% decline in teen pregnancy is not a success is a fool. And the undisputed fact still remains that abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy.

[Jeffrey_D.]

All I can say is that there must be a whole lot of
artificial insemination going on over there.....lol

[WV Mountain Mama]

I think that a parent talking to their kids about sex, hormones, their bodies, abstinence, respect for themselves and their girlfriend, love, responsibility, why God believed that it should be done in the sanctity of marriage and their soon to be best friend rosie palmer should all be taught. Many kids are confused by their hormones, the "everybody is doing it" argument, what they think love is, etc. That is where parents need to step in and help them. When I was 15 (20 years ago) I was not dating, I was only at chaperoned parties (yes, phone calls were made) and the homes I was having sleepovers at would never allow boys there, etc, the parents were like mine. Parents should not turn a blind eye. This boy's mom needs to ask him why he thinks he needs to or is ready to have sex and how his girlfriend is feeling about it, just for starters.

[trisham]

Agreed. Also-was there mention of the sample size or how the stats were gathered? If not, it's difficult to know much about the studies' conclusions.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I should do more thinking about this myself (my boys are 14 and 17): I can see how a parent hesitates. But a boy asking for a condom has definitely issued a challenge: he may be testing to see where the limits are.

I would definitely do two things: (1)talk to the boy about what God expects him to do: to abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage. Acknowledge the profound strength of temptation, but make the law of God plain. (2)get on the phone to the girl's parents and discuss what should be done to help the young people maintain upright behavior.

[linda_22003]

#1 is a good long-term, big-picture plan; #2 is what will get immediate results. ;-D

[N. Theknow]

By this logic, filtered cigarettes help more people avoid lung disorders than not smoking.

[N. Theknow]

Sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenage pregnancy is a complete "myth"

So, the chirrens were abstinent frum skool having sex.

[rzeznikj at stout]

"Success of abstinence cutting teen pregnancies a myth"

"It is a myth that abstinence is a better approach and this US study confirms it."

Hmmm, this article is so fraught with error, I honestly don't know where to begin...

Well, I suppose we can start with the two above statements from the article--certainly they are laughable. After all, how is it logically, statistically, or mathematically possible for a girl who has sex with contraceptives to be less likely to get pregnant over a girl who has no sex at all?

For this reason, these, er, donkeys deserve today's "O RLY?" Award(TM)

8^)

[hocndoc]

There's strong evidence that there is protection in abstinence based sex ed;

The slides showing efficacy of the abstinence only approach, from the presentation in Toronto are here.

And here's a review of the discussion:

A study of 662 African-American Grade 6 and 7 students from inner-city middle schools in Philadelphia found those taught an abstinence-only approach to sex were less likely to have had sexual intercourse at 24 months' follow-up compared to those put through a "safer sex" intervention that emphasized condom use but made no mention of abstinence.

And while Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president, told delegates to the International AIDS Conference in Toronto yesterday that abstinence programs delay sexual activity but make teens less likely to use condoms when they do start having sex, the study found the opposite to be true.

"It did not reduce intentions to use condoms, it did not reduce beliefs about the efficacy of condoms, it did not decrease consistent condom use and it did not decrease condom use at last sexual [encounter]," lead author John Jemmott, of the University of Pennsylvania, said.

The youngsters in the study ranged in age from 10 to 15; half were girls. Twenty-three per cent said they had had sexual intercourse at least once before the study began.

"There aren't any studies that show that children are less likely to use condoms as a result of an abstinence intervention. I've looked in the literature, there are no studies that show that," Mr. Jemmott said in an interview.

Heres a FReeper post from August.

[TAdams8591]

"Success of abstinence in cutting teen pregnancies is a 'myth'"

They get pregnant even though their abstinent? Good trick.

[hocndoc]

I goofed, again:
Here's a link to the Page containing the link to the abstract and the Powerpoint Slides

http://www.aids2006.org/PAG/PSession.aspx?s=287

The slides are at
http://www.aids2006.org/Web/MOAX0504.ppt

[TAdams8591]

"The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy said that research from the United States showed that contraception was the way to bring down rates"

If that's true, then why has teen pregnancy gone way up since the advent of the pill? This is an argument I have been making for at least the past 20 years.

[Antoninus]

Sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenage pregnancy is a complete "myth", the Government's advisory body on the issue claimed yesterday. Yes, because as everyone knows, abstinence doesn't prevent the stork from coming. The only way to successfully stop teen pregnancy is to have each teenaged girl's house surrounded by Phalanx guns to shoot down any strange fowl that might fly over.

[dforest]

This must mean that girls who don't have sex are getting pregnant!

[wagglebee]

If the leftists had come up with a program of promoting abstinence, everyone would be wearing "abstinence awareness ribbons," but nobody would be explaining abstinence.

[RobRoy]

Worked for my youngest.

Abortion is what worked for her friends though. At just 19 she voluntarily thanked my wife and I for being more strict than her friends parents. I didn't expect that until she was at least 25.

[little jeremiah]

Additionally, if the pregnancy rate in general doesn't seem improved, could it be that more teenage girls are being influenced by the barrage of "be a ho" from all sides than those who are influenced by the abstinence messages? Maybe the abstinence message just nees more exposure? Hmmm? And maybe boys need to hear the abstinence message too? Hmmm?

[SoldierDad]

Second coming?

[SoldierDad]

Rather, look and see if "abstinence" in their study is allowed to include:

Partial abstinence, as in, "We screwed on Saturday but we abstained the rest of the week."

Mutual oral and/or masturbatory sex, which when done sloppily (sorry) can result in semen ending up in all the wrong places even without coital penetration.

The TEACHING of abstinence, which is very different from the PRACTICE of abstinence.

All very good points. You'll notice that nowhere are these points discussed in the study, or even controlled for in collecting the data. So easy for these people to manipulate the data collection in order to arrive at the conclusion they were looking for in the first place. Doubtful they used a "double blind" method for data collection. Results should be thrown out as invalid and unuseful.