Adolescent Sex Education

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released recommendations for an updated policy on teen pregnancy that argues abstinence education must be paired with information about and access to contraception. Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the committee that devised the new recommendations, told the Associated Press: "Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy." Dr. S. Paige Hertweck, a pediatric obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Louisville who advised the committee, argued that promoting abstinence without also providing contraception leaves teens who do engage in intercourse far more likely to practice unsafe sex, opening the door to unwanted pregnancies and the threat of sexually transmitted diseases.

It goes without saying these days that the Bush Administration opposes such measures. Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services, reaffirmed the administration line that abstinence-only education provides adolescents with consistent information, arguing that offering contraception just makes the message confusing for them. He did admit that, although teens who aren't sexually active should not be distracted by contraception, access should be available to those who are active. Exactly how and when teens could gain information about and access to contraception so they could make use of it when they actually cross the line from nonactive to active was not clear.

That teens who might become sexually active should have all the options for abstinence and contraception available to them is such a no-brainer that it's amazing we're still fighting about it. But when I remind myself of the current political climate and the culture wars being waged every day, I come back to reality, and the situation all makes sense again. The new recommendations can be found in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics.