Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Abstinence

TW: This latest study on abstinence got some press recently. They all do and like the rest will likely change few minds regardless of the results. Obama I would hope would put less focus on abstinence and more on other programs but more importantly move the needle back towards "keeping the government out of the bedroom". Many conservatives love small government except when it comes to sex and other "cultural" initiatives.

From Economist:
"...All this, of course, plows into the debate on abstinence-only sexual education. I don't have much patience for Obama triumphalists who see everything connected to George Bush's eight years as unmitigatedly terrible, ripe for complete transformation in the hands of the president-elect. But when it comes to White House support of abstinence-only education, the change is more than welcome. Mr Bush doubled the abstinence-only sex-education budget; Mr Obama supports sensible, comprehensive sexual education programmes. Time to rejigger those federal incentives.

But don't expect exponents of abstinence-only to fold any time soon. They argue that pledgers are surrounded by a "sex-saturated culture" that encourages them to stray from their oaths. Perhaps. But I shudder to think about how they would have the government fix that."

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2008/12/shocking.cfm

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