this time ~ this space

U.S. Abortion Rate continues long-term decline, falling to the lowest level since Roe vs Wade - The abortion rate is now at its lowest level since 1974. The number of abortions declined as well, to a total of 1.2 million in 2005, 25% below the all-time high of 1.6 million abortions in 1990.  Source

There is currently no federal program dedicated to supporting comprehensive sex education that teaches young people about both abstinence and contraception.

Federal law establishes a stringent eight-point definition of “abstinence-only education” that requires programs to teach that sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong and harmful—for people of any age. The law also prohibits programs from advocating contraceptive use or discussing contraceptive methods, except to emphasize their failure rates.

Federal guidelines now define sexual activity to include any behavior between two people that may be sexually stimulating, which could be interpreted as including even kissing or hand-holding.

Despite years of evaluation in this area, there is no evidence to date that abstinence-only education delays teen sexual activity. Moreover, recent research shows that abstinence-only strategies may deter contraceptive use among sexually active teens, increasing their risk of unintended pregnancy and STIs. Source PDF

Abstinence students still having sex - Study tracked 2,057 young people in government-funded programs - April. 16, 2007 - Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not, according to a long-awaited study mandated by Congress.

Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes, and they first had sex at about the same age as their control group counterparts — 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.

Approximately one in four teens in the United States will contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts believe a major contributing factor is the failure of many teens to use condoms consistently and routinely. Now a new study provides some insight into some of the factors that influence condom use among teenagers. Nearly two-thirds of adolescents did not use a condom the last time they had sex.

Participants also reported an average of two partners and about 15 incidents of unprotected sexual activity within the 90-day period. The researchers found that teens who did not use condoms were significantly more likely to believe that condoms reduce sexual pleasure and were also more concerned that their partner would not approve of condom use. These findings held true across racial/ethnic groups, gender and geographic locations. The findings appear in the September/October issue of Public Health Reports. Source: ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2008)

Related posts found in this blog: Abstinence only programs aren’t effective: Vote Obama