NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters Health) -- The federal government needs to
increase funding for sex education that provides teens with information on both
contraception and abstinence, according to the organization Advocates for Youth.
The group is critical of sex ed programs that only stress abstinence.
Representatives from Advocates for Youth asserted at a briefing in Washington,
DC, that "the limited funds that the federal government provides for teen
pregnancy prevention are not always invested in scientifically evaluated
strategies or programs that successfully reduce adolescent sexual risk behaviors
and teenage pregnancy."
The group released a report on Wednesday that concludes the federal
government invests $138 million annually in programs to reduce teen pregnancy
and high-risk sexual behaviors, while it invests over 275 times more -- $38
billion -- in services and support of families of teens who give birth.
"Policy makers must not curtail support for families begun with a birth to
a teen," according to a summary of the report. "However, to effectively reduce
rates of unintended pregnancy and births among teens, the federal government
should invest in teen pregnancy prevention initiatives."
"The (federal) policy is towards programs that don't work," James Wagoner,
president of Advocates for Youth, told Reuters Health. "The American Medical
Association and others have withdrawn support for abstinence-only (sex
education) programs," he added. Meanwhile, "federal programs that provide
information on contraception have been highly successful," Wagoner said.
"Eighty percent of the decline in teen births is due to an increased use
of contraception, while 20% is due to an increase in abstinence," Wagoner said
of recent research.
"Research indicates that balanced, realistic sexuality education -- which
includes information on both abstinence and contraception -- can delay teens'
onset of sexual activity, increase the use of contraception by sexually active
teens, and reduce the number of their sexual partners," according to the new
report.
"The pragmatic approach adopted by European countries is far more
effective," Wagoner told Reuters Health. As an example, he pointed out that the
US has three times the abortion rate of France.
"We issue a call to Congress to adopt research-driven policies to prevent
teen pregnancy," Wagoner said. "This means that Congress should turn away from
abstinence-only programs... Pursuing (the current) policies is not only naïve
and misguided, but is dangerous in the era of HIV and AIDS."
