Ohio's Abstinence Education Law: House Bill 189

Effective date March 18, 1999

This bill requires that venereal disease education emphasize abstinence from sexual activity as the only 100% effective protection against unwanted pregnancy and transmission of the AIDS virus and other sexually transmitted diseases.

It also mandates that the State Board of Education require course materials and instruction in venereal disease education to cover certain topics pertaining to abstinence and sexual activity outside of marriage. The bill requires the State Board of Education’s minimum standards to include course materials which teach that:

Title V Abstinence Education Definition

Section 912--Abstinence Education--of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 amends Title V of the Social Security Act including:

SEPARATE PROGRAM FOR ABSTINENCE EDUCATION

Sec. 510. (b)( I ) The purpose of an allotment under subsection (a) to a State is to enable the State to provide abstinence education, and at the option of the State, where appropriate, mentoring, counseling, and adult supervision to promote abstinence from sexual activity, with a focus on those groups which are most likely to bear children out-of-wedlock.

(2) For purposes of this section, the terms ‘abstinence education’ means an educational or motivational program which--

(A) has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;

(B) teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children;

(C) teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;

(D) teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity;

(E) teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;

(F) teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;

(G) teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increases vulnerability to sexual advances; and

(H) teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.

Condoms and Abstinence: Separating Truth From Myth

July 23, 2003

by Jerry Gramckow

Q. Since most teens are sexually active, shouldn’t schools teach the majority how to protect themselves with condoms, rather than catering to the minority who abstain?

A. No. The truth is, most teens are not sexually active. The latest survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that teen sexual activity has been declining steadily over the last seven years (since about the time abstinence programs really took hold). The CDC’s 2001 Youth Risks Behavior Survey found that fewer than 43 percent of our nation’s teens had ever engaged in sexual intercourse, and just one-third said they are “currently sexually active.” Clearly, teens are capable of abstaining from sex; they just need the right motivation and support.

Q. But doesn’t abstinence-only education leave that one-third who are sexually active—which is still a sizeable minority—unprotected and vulnerable?

A. Granted, kids who engage in “unprotected” sex are vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. But this raises another crucial question: How much protection do condoms provide? Studies have found condom failure rates in protecting against pregnancies for teens to be as high as 22.5 percent. As for protecting against STDs, in 2001 several government health agencies together released a report on condom effectiveness. The report found evidence that condoms are about 85 percent effective in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. (Is 85 percent good enough in protecting your child against a deadly and incurable virus?) The report also found condoms to be somewhat effective in protecting men (but not women) from gonorrhea. But the prominent scientists who prepared the report found no conclusive evidence that condoms protect against any other STD, including HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, which kills more women than AIDS does. Sixty-eight million Americans now have an incurable STD. Many caught those incurable STDs while using condoms. No one has ever caught AIDS or any other STD from being abstinent. Who’s really more vulnerable, the teen taught to use condoms or the one who’s motivated to save sex for marriage?

Another crucial point to remember is that kids are notoriously spontaneous—and forgetful. (How many times have you reminded your teen to take his jacket to the football game as he rushed from the house?) The CDC has stated that for condoms to be effective they must be used “every time you have sex—100 percent of the time—no exceptions.” One study found that only about 13 percent of sexually active people always use a condom. That figure may be even worse for teens. In the heat of passion kids are likely to forget the eight-step process for proper condom use.

Q. But haven’t abstinence education programs been shown to be ineffective?

A. That’s a widely spread myth. The biggest and best government-funded study of abstinence programs will not be released until 2005. However, a report from Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found 10 proven abstinence programs. The study is available on the Internet by CLICKING HERE

Dec, 10, 2004;
Sioux Falls, SD; www.abstinence.net

Amidst cries for scientific proof and medical accuracy, the CDC, National Center for Health Statistics released two reports today which offer even more evidence that abstinence education works. According to one of the reports, "Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2002" fewer teens are having sex. Declines were particularly large among males age 15-19. That correlates with the finding that the majority of teens reported receiving formal instruction on how to refuse sexual advances. The report also found that adolescents who chose to engage in sexual activity did so at older ages compared with a similar 1995 review.

The findings of this report reveal the total number of teens abstaining from sex before marriage nearly achieves the Healthy People 2010 targets, six years early. Abstinence target rates of 90 percent for teens under age 15 and 75 percent for teens among 15-17 were set as a first wave goal.

"It's hard to argue with numbers. Abstinence education is reaching kids where they're at and helping them to make healthy choices for their futures," said Leslee J. Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse. "Kids want the truth. Contraception educators have been lying to them for decades, saying that sex outside of marriage can be casual and safe. That's just not true and kids have learned it the hard way, by watching their friends get pregnant or contract an STD. They want something better. That's why they're choosing abstinence."

The report did contain some bad news. An estimated 9 percent of sexually active females age 18-24 reported that their first intercourse was nonvoluntary. "This number is, by anyone's standard, simply unacceptable and underscores the need for age-appropriate discussion about good touch/bad touch and the need for teaching refusal skills to young girls," said Christina Espenscheid, Educational Programs Director for the Abstinence Clearinghouse.

A second report released today, Use of Contraception and the Use of Family Planning Services in the United States: 1982 - 2002, also revealed bad news for contraception education proponents. More women are relying on family planning services than ever before and yet the outcomes of the studies released today reveal a worsening related to birth spacing and pregnancy prevention education.

"Contraception pushers wanted studies and in-depth analysis of sex education programs," said Unruh. "Well, they got them. I hope they're ready. They've got some explaining to do."

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