Abstinence-Only Education

While there is no clear definition of what sex education is due to the varying degrees of how it is taught, it is loosely defined as “education in schools on the subject of sexual activity and sexual relationships (Collins).” More specifically, comprehensive sex education is defined by the Advocates of Youth Organization as a course that “teaches about abstinence as the best method for avoiding STDs and unintended pregnancy, but also teaches about condoms and contraception to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and of infection with STDs, including HIV, [and]…also teaches interpersonal and communication skills and helps young people explore their own values, goals, and options.” Contraceptives are more clearly defined as “a device or drug

According to Matt Essert of mic.com, “There's almost no getting around it. States with abstinence-only education have the highest rates of teen pregnancies.” In his article “The States With the Highest Teenage Birth Rates Have One Thing in Common,” Essert discusses a figure from a study conducted by PLOS One that depicted the correlation between abstinence only educations and teen pregnancy rates state-by-state. The figure showed the direct variation between abstinence teaching levels and teen pregnancies per 1,000 women with states that had higher abstinence teaching levels—such as Texas, Kentucky, and Utah—also having higher amounts of teen pregnancies. Contrariwise, states with low abstinence teaching levels, such as New Hampshire and Iowa, have a lower amount of teen pregnancies. As said by Erika Sánchez: “No matter how much politicians, parents and educators wring their hands, adolescents will continue to have sex — and teaching them abstinence isn’t going to deter them from

Two states, California and Oregon, have begun to offer over-the-counter birth control as, beforehand, birth control could only be given with a doctor’s prescription (Almendrala). This practice is actually common within most of the world, but with the United States’ gradual acceptance, it will not only decrease teen pregnancy, but will have other benefits as well. Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, an assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, said that “in many ways, by preventing pregnancy, you actually are lowering an individual woman’s risk for blood clots, in general.” Likewise, with the recent introduction and spreading of condom accessibility programs, male condom use has increased along with the decrease in teen pregnancy and even the spread of STDs and STIs (Alford). However, these programs do not encourage teens to engage in sex at an early age or to have more sexual partners, which also helps to lower the teen pregnancy rate