Thanks, abstinence-only education!

Or ‘enter’, whatever.
A new report from the CDC says that “trends in the sexual and reproductive health of U.S. teens and young adults have flattened, or in some instances may be worsening.” Are we really surprised?
Thanks to a decade of misinformation masquerading as sex education, teens are having the same amount of sex, using contraception less, and getting pregnant more.
We’re reaping what we’ve sowed. A 2002 study found that one-third of U.S. teenagers hadn’t received any formal instruction about contraception. For those who did learn about contraception – it was all scare tactics. In Me, My World, My Future – a textbook used in public schools across the country – students are told that “relying on condoms is like playing Russian roulette.” A Case Western Reserve University study found that Ohio students have been taught that the birth control pill increases young women’s chances of infertility later in life. And in 2005, teens at Montana’s Bozeman High School were even taught that condoms cause cancer. So why would teens want to depend on something that they’re told is not only ineffective, but cancer-causing to boot?
I’m stoked that the new budget has cut funding for abstinence-only education, I really am. But de-funding these programs is not enough. We have to undo the damage that’s been done to young people and support real solutions: If we want to lower the teen pregnancy rate, we need to demand that contraception be easily accessible and affordable to young people. Yes – this means condoms in schools and community centers, and emergency contraception being available to teens over the counter. If we want to ensure that teenagers are well-informed, we need to demand federal and state funding for comprehensive sex education.
The purity-pushers are not going anywhere, but this is about more than politics…it’s about our health and futures. (And goodness knows I don’t know either in the hands of someone who could think up the above shirt.)