# Fighting to Teach Abstinence

By Congressman J. Randy Forbes

April 2, 2004

 

There is another big rift in Washington, and while that may not surprise
you, you may be surprised what it\'s about: abstinence education. On one
side are people who believe that when it comes to sex education, the
only thing teens need is education about and access to contraception,
especially condoms. On the other side are folks, like me, who believe
that our youth need the education and support necessary to abstain from
becoming sexually active.

 

The president has requested increasing abstinence-education programs to
\$273 million in fiscal year 2005. He is not seeking to cut funding for
contraception programs. Yet, the pro-contraception folks are up in arms.
In a recent letter to Congress, the contraceptive lobby urged that
Congress spend \"no new money\" on abstinence-education programs.
That\'s a shame, especially for America\'s teens.

 

The sad thing is, there really doesn\'t need to be a battle at all. In
2002, the federal and state governments spent an estimated \$1.73
billion on a wide variety of contraception promotion and pregnancy
prevention programs. More than a third of that money - \$653 million -
was spent specifically to fund contraceptive programs for teens. In
contrast, programs teaching teens to abstain from sexual activity
received only an estimated \$144.1 million in 2002. **Overall, the
government spent \$12 to promote contraception for every \$1 spent to
encourage abstinence.**

 

When I was in the Virginia Senate I sponsored legislation to add
abstinence education to Virginia\'s school health curriculum. I was
amazed at the controversy that ensued. There was one culminating
statement that was made by the opposition. Somebody said we should not
teach abstinence education because it would confuse our children too
much. If you do not think that our children are confused, all you have
to do is spend 24 hours with them, and you will find that they are
pulled in every direction imaginable. What they often want most is not a
greater discussion of their options, but rather a set of standards.

 

We set standards every day for our children. Teachers demand academic
standards. Parents demand personal responsibility standards. Coaches
demand athletic standards. Pastors, leaders, even peers, demand
standards of our children. When we set standards for our children, it\'s
not because we want to control them, it\'s because we want what\'s best
for them. And when we set these standards, our children listen, and
while they may not always follow, they at least know the direction in
which to head.

 

Imagine if our teachers set a standard of abstinence. While we know that
not every child would reach that goal - just as every child does not
reach the academic goals we set- we do know this about those who do
abstain from sexual activity: That student will not develop a sexually
transmitted disease because of their abstinence; that student will not
get an unwanted pregnancy because of their abstinence; that student will
not be kept from developing the career they had always dreamed of
because of their decision regarding abstinence; that student will not be
kept from going to college because of their decision to refrain from
sex. Abstinence will certainly not cause them to suffer from the guilt
of making a bad decision that could negatively impact them for the rest
of their lives.  

 

The real question for us today is not whether abstinence works; it is
whether or not we want it to work. The real question is not whether this
standard is too high, it is whether we want a standard at all. We say
this is a child problem. This is not a child problem, this is an adult
problem.

 

I would argue, however, that despite all the efforts of lawmakers to
bring abstinence to our schools, despite the President\'s request to
double abstinence funding, and despite all the discussions we have had
and will continue to have on this issue, we are still missing a critical
piece of the puzzle when it comes to abstinence education. We will never
reach the goal of having abstinence education in this country until
parents stand up and demand a program that works and specify that the
program that works is abstinence. And when parents demand this standard
of legislators and teachers by saying it works, they are demanding it of
their children by showing they care.