Abstaining From Truth About Sex

A congressional report prepared by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), among others, has concluded that 11 out of the 13 curricula used in federally financed abstinence programs nationwide are full of scientifically false or inaccurate, misleading, or distorted information about sexual activity, abstinence, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases. These curricula are used by 69 groups in 25 states.

Some examples of the medical and health information many of our children are receiving (with our tax dollars):

• Touching someone's genitals can cause pregnancy.
• A 43-day-old fetus (that's 6 weeks gestation) is a "thinking person."
• Fifty percent of gay male teenagers in the U.S. are HIV-infected.
• The HIV virus can be transmitted through sweat and through tears.
• Condoms have a 31 percent failure rate in preventing HIV transmission (in sex between men and women).
• Women who have abortions commit suicide at a higher rate than women who don't and up to 10 percent of women who have had abortions become sterile as a result.
• Men need "admiration" and "sexual fulfillment" and women need "financial support." Also, women who make too many suggestions or try to help a man too much will be passed over for marriage in favor of women who are more compliant.

By the way, the scientifically accurate answers to the above statements are:

• Very rarely, mutual masturbation can lead to pregnancy. This is so rare it's almost a freak occurrence. The much more medically truthful information is that touching someone's genitals is a safe way to express sexual desire.
• A 43-day-old fetus is not a person and cannot think.
• The number of gay male teenagers in the U.S. who are HIV-infected is unknown.
• The HIV virus absolutely cannot be spread through sweat and tears. There are no known cases of HIV being transmitted this way.
• There is no proven causal link between abortion and suicide; and a leading obstetrical textbook published in 2001 says elective abortions do not have any effect on fertility.
• The failure rate for condoms, when used correctly and every time two people have sex, is under 3 percent -- both for pregnancy and STDs.
• Women who have opinions and are not afraid to express them are hot, sexy, and desirable. Very few men want to marry a moron or a timid little waif.

One has to wonder, reading about curricula that use lies, misinformation, distortion, and medically inaccurate information to teach children that abstinence is best: Are they really sure that abstinence is best? Because if they are, why do they have to resort to lies and distortions to make that point? When, as Henry Waxman put it, we "lie to our children about science" and when "federal tax dollars are being used to mislead kids about basic health facts," what does that say about the basic integrity of abstinence advocates, not to mention the validity of abstinence as a way of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?