http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/03/18/virginitystudy.stds.ap/index.html
Study: Many virgins take other risks
Report suggests those who pledge abstinence try other sex
Friday, March 18, 2005 Posted: 6:00 PM EST (2300 GMT)
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- Teens who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to take chances with other kinds of sex that increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, a study of 12,000 adolescents suggests.
The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain their earlier findings that teens who pledged abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers.
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The pledging group was also less likely to use condoms during their first sexual experience or get tested for STDs, the researchers found.
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Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, called the study "bogus," disputing that those involved had pledged true "abstinence."
Millions of teens have signed written pledges or verbally promised to abstain from sex, part of a church-led effort to discourage premarital sex and the spread of disease. President Bush has boosted funding for abstinence-only education in schools.
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Last year, the same research team found that 88 percent of teens who pledge abstinence end up having sex before marriage, compared with 99 percent of teens who do not make a pledge.
I wonder why the Christian right are so adamant about abstinence-only sex education when in reality, it's just foolhardy to assume kids will stick by their pledges. At the mean time, kids end up having sex and getting STDs and unwanted pregnancies because they don't know about contraception or birth control.
EDIT: Article cut down for forum regulations. Emphasis added.