For Immediate Release:
April 16,
2007
Media Contact: Andrea Gage
414-213-3717
(cell)
Federal Study Proves
Failure of Abstinence-Only Programs
Study
underscores wisdom behind Governor Doyle’s refusal of the abstinence
program
Madison, WI - A long-awaited evaluation of federally funded
abstinence-only programs released last week confirms that abstinence-only education
programs fail to prevent teens from having sex.
More specifically, the $7.7 million dollar study conducted by Mathematica found that when compared to a control group,
students who attended abstinence-only programs were no more likely to delay
sexual activity or have fewer partners. The abstinence-only programs also had
no impact on reported rates of pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease.
“This
study should serve as a wake up call to public policy makers who have wasted
$1.5 billion dollars of taxpayer money on ineffective abstinence-only programs
to instead support educational programs that provide youth with the
comprehensive information they need to protect themselves from sexually
transmitted infection and unintended pregnancy,” stated Lisa Boyce, vice
president of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.
“We applaud Governor Doyle for taking the lead in our state by refusing
to allocate additional taxpayer dollars toward this program that has proven not
to work.”
President
Bush recently requested a $28 million increase in the FY08 budget for
abstinence-only programs, which have been widely criticized for denying teens lifesaving information about how to protect themselves
from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Currently,
no federal program is dedicated to supporting comprehensive sex education,
despite the proven effectiveness of such programs.
It is
estimated that only 10 percent of all American school districts have a
sexuality education policy that is comprehensive and includes information about
contraception and safer sex in addition to abstinence. Wisconsin only requires schools that choose
to teach human growth and development to emphasize abstinence until marriage as
the best way to prevent pregnancy. Wisconsin law does not require schools to
teach comprehensive sex education that includes information about
contraception.
Milwaukee was one of four cities who took
part in the Mathematica study. Of the 414 Milwaukee students surveyed, 140 students
were part of the ‘control’ group (did not receive the federally
supported abstinence only education program) and 274 received abstinence-only
curriculum.
“It
is no surprise that when compared to Wisconsin’s standard health
curriculum that does not require instruction on comprehensive sex education,
teaching abstinence-only does not do anything to improve the health outcomes of
our youth,” said Boyce. “Wisconsin could do so much more to enhance
the decision making skills and health outcomes of our youth, if we would simply
provide them with all of the facts about how to protect themselves. Public
policy makers should take this opportunity to focus on real solutions for
parents and teenagers and to lead the way by enacting comprehensive sex
education in our schools that talks about both abstinence and contraception.”
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is the advocacy arm of Planned
Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI). The mission of PPWI is to
empower all individuals to manage their sexual and reproductive health through
direct services, education, and advocacy. www.ppawi.org