Guttmacher Report:
Newly released data indicate that the declines in teen sexual activity among high school students largely predated the federal government’s major investment in abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs, and provides important new context for the ongoing debate over those expenditures. Despite compelling evidence that abstinence-only programs do not stop – or even delay – teen sex, these programs are currently funded at a level of $176 million annually. In contrast, there is no comparable federal program to support sex education that includes information about both abstinence and contraceptive use, an approach proven effective at promoting both delays in sexual activity and protective behaviors among teens when they do become sexually active.
