Posts Tagged ‘Congressional Action’

Apr

A Congressional Abstinence Update

Posted by: Mark Doebler in Culture

Waxing Negative on Abstinence

Yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held an extremely one-sided hearing to assess the effectiveness of authentic abstinence education. It took just one look at the witness list to see how Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) had stacked the deck against abstinence proponents. When asked by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) if they would support abstinence education, three of the four “health experts” who testified against it said they would oppose abstinence even if scientific evaluation showed it to be as or more effective than so-called comprehensive sex ed.

Dr. Harvey Fineberg of the Institute of Medicine was the only one in this anti-abstinence group to maintain a sense of scientific integrity by quietly answering yes. On the positive side, Dr. Stan Weed, the lone pro-abstinence health expert at the hearing, testified solidly on behalf of the positive impact of abstinence-centered education. He presented research that demonstrates the effectiveness of abstinence programs across the country, including two of his own studies that showed decreases in rates of sexual initiation by 45 and 50 percent in youth when compared to non-program groups. Missing from the discussion was the fact that the Chairman’s own state has never accepted federally allocated Title V money for abstinence education–and its teens are suffering greatly for it. California is a tragic example of what can happen in today’s culture in the absence of strong abstinence-centered education. Since rejecting the abstinence funds in the first year they were offered to states, the rates of STIs in California youth exploded at an estimated 1.1 million new cases per year in 2005. Congressman Waxman should recognize the dire need of young people in his own state and stop protecting entities that promote high-risk behavior to youth.

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Quite honestly, I have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand I am stunned at the pig-headed resistance expressed in the highlighted sentence above. What these experts are saying is that they are committed to making sure that our teenagers are active sexually, evidence be damned. They remind me of the old adage, “My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.” You just have to shake your head in utter disbelief at such statements as the one above. On the other hand, if we did a better job in the church and in our families, perhaps this wouldn’t be as critical an issue as it currently is. So while I think we MUST actively engage where possible in the political arena to promote values that we KNOW are good for our nation, our families, and our children, we MUST ALSO do a better job in our own arena. We cannot count on the culture to teach our children what is right and proper. Would it be preferable to what now passes as education? Certainly. But let’s work to do a better job on the homefront in our own congregations.

Thanks to the suggestion of AR in the comments below, I have added this video clip of the highlighted question. Watch this and be amazed. Thanks AR.