JOUR 61: Topical Post #2

In this country there was a founding belief that there should be a separation of church and state. Government funding of health education programs in schools that promote sexual abstinence until marriage would seem to fly in the face of that.

Of course, sexually transmitted diseases would be dramatically reduced if everyone were to abide by the Catholic rhetoric of abstaining from sex until wedlock. However, this is not a practical solution to the problem. We have to realize that teenagers today have sex; Planned Parenthood has estimated that two thirds of teenagers will have had sexual intercourse by the time they leave high school. The question is not how to stop them from having sex, but how to best ensure that they engage in safe sex. The government’s job isn’t to make moral judgments on the issue. Rather, it is their responsibility to provide young people with the education necessary to make mature, sensible decisions about sex.

America’s leading health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently revealed that one in four teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease. This statistic has sparked an investigation by Congress into funding of the abstinence program. There can be no debate. Resources must stop being wasted on promoting this outdated, religion driven lifestyle choice and instead spent in a way that deals with the realities of today.

Piece inspired and facts garnered from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7368219.stm