Policy Advocates Renew Calls for Planned Parenthood-Style Sex-Education Law in Arkansas

Current Events, Sex Education,

On Monday the media outlet Arkansas Advocate reported on a renewed push for Planned Parenthood-style comprehensive sex-education in the state.

The goal is to “improve” sex-education and reduce teen pregnancy in Arkansas.

On the surface, it may sound like a good idea. However, Arkansas has been down this road before, and we know from experience that Planned Parenthood-style sex-education is bad for Arkansas.

In the 1980s and 1990s, public officials in Arkansas promoted comprehensive sex-education, but the programs failed to have a meaningful impact on teen pregnancy and abortion in the state.

Then in 1997 the Arkansas Legislature and Governor Mike Huckabee began promoting abstinence education in Arkansas. From 1997 to 2005, Arkansas’ teen birthrate decreased 17%, and Arkansas’ teen abortion rate plummeted a staggering 48%.

Governor Huckabee’s abstinence education model was so successful in Arkansas that it drew national recognition. Family Council was pleased to support Arkansas’ good abstinence education program. The program continued into the early 2000s, but was gradually scaled back as a result of budget cuts and changes in state and federal government.

According to the CDC, teenagers who practice abstinence are healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who are sexually active.

Sexually-active teens have been found to be less healthy and to engage in riskier behavior.

In other words, abstinence is linked to healthier lifestyles overall.

Comprehensive sex-education programs often focus on contraceptives and “risk-reduction” without encouraging abstinence or teaching teenagers to avoid risky situations altogether. This leads to riskier behavior among teens. Those are just some of the reasons Family Council opposes comprehensive sex-education in Arkansas.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Planned Parenthood Still Pushes Publicly Funded Sex-Education Despite Past Failures

Sex Education, , ,

Planned Parenthood is still promoting publicly funded sex-education despite the program’s past failures.

On Tuesday the nation’s leading abortion provider posted on X,

Hey state politicians sex ed in schools actually reduces the rate of unplanned pregnancies and STIs!

It’s almost as if giving young people the tools and education they need to make healthy decisions actually helps them make healthy decisions. Wild, right?

The irony is that government evaluations have shown Planned Parenthood’s publicly funded sex-education and family planning strategies simply do not work the way Planned Parenthood claims they do.

Several years ago the Obama Administration gave Planned Parenthood millions of dollars to conduct teen pregnancy prevention programs in the Pacific Northwest.

Afterwards, evaluations of Planned Parenthood’s sex-education program found students who went through it were often more likely to become pregnant or cause a pregnancy.

In other words, Planned Parenthood’s multimillion dollar sex-education program did exactly the opposite of what the federal government wanted.

In the 1980s and 1990s, public officials in Arkansas promoted Planned Parenthood-style sex-education, but the programs failed to have a meaningful impact on teen pregnancy and abortion in Arkansas.

Then in 1997 the Arkansas Legislature and Governor Mike Huckabee began promoting abstinence education in Arkansas. From 1997 to 2005, Arkansas’ teen birthrate decreased 17% — and Arkansas’ teen abortion rate plummeted a staggering 48%.

Governor Huckabee’s abstinence education model was so successful in Arkansas that it drew national recognition.

In 2016 — again, while President Barack Obama was still in office — the federal Centers for Disease Control released a 208-page report concluding teenagers who practice abstinence were healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who are sexually active.

The report looked at everything from seatbelt and bike helmet use to substance abuse, diet, exercise, and even tanning bed use.

The CDC found sexually-active teens were less healthy and engaged in riskier behavior across the board.

The report underscored that not only were abstinence education models like Arkansas’ effective at reducing teen pregnancy and abortion, but they also promoted healthier lifestyle choices across the board.

So while Planned Parenthood continues to promote public funding for its ineffective sex-education programs, Arkansas has shown there are much better ways to reduce teen pregnancy. Handing out tax dollars to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood simply is not the answer.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Faith, Family Deter Teen Sexual Activity: New CDC Report

Sex Education

A Centers for Disease Control report released this month shows that faith and family are two primary reasons teenagers choose not to be sexually active.

The CDC’s “Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing” report surveyed teens between 2015 and 2019, and compared data to similar reports released in previous years.

The CDC’s findings underscore the ways faith and family affect teenage sexual activity.

First, researchers found “the main reason most commonly chosen by female teenagers for not having had sex, among the options provided, was ‘against religion or morals’ (32.5%) . . . Among male teenagers, the most commonly chosen main reason for not having had sex was ‘haven’t found the right person yet’ (35.3%), followed by ‘against religion or morals’ (26.2%).”

In other words, a teen’s religious beliefs play a significant role in whether he or she will be sexually active.

Second, teens who lived in a two-parent household with their biological or adoptive parents were less likely to engage in sexual activity than their peers.

The study also found sexual activity was higher among teenagers who did not live with both biological or adoptive parents.

The researchers concluded,

The probability of having had sex by age 17 was lowest for females who lived with both biological or adoptive parents at age 14 (42%) compared with those who lived in other parental living arrangements (64%–67%). The same pattern held by parental living arrangement for males ages 15–24.

To put it plainly: Moms and dads matter, and they have a profound impact on their children.

This latest report is reminiscent of a 208-page report the CDC released in 2016 regarding teenage sexual activity.

The 2016 report examined sexual activity and health trends among youth. It looked at everything from seatbelt and bike helmet use to substance abuse, diet, exercise, and even tanning bed use.

The 2016 report concluded teenagers who practiced abstinence were healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who were sexually active.

It also determined that sexually-active teens were less healthy and were more likely to engage in risky behavior.

The CDC’s newest report echoes some of these points, noting that, among other things, sexually active teens and young adults face increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

All of this underscores the important role that faith and family play in the lives of teens and young adults. 

Having a strong faith and a good life at home doesn’t just discourage a teen from having sex. In the process, it also has other positive impacts on that child’s life. That’s something to keep in mind as parents, educators, and policymakers discuss sex-education and related issues.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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