Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn recently signed a bill into law requiring public schools to teach Planned Parenthood's version of sex education. Students in sixth through 12th grade will receive comprehensive sex education, which includes information about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases.
This will only give young people a false sense of safety.
"The type of education that the Illinois governor is lauding here actually teaches that abstinence is simply one option on a continuum of choices," said Mary Ann Mosack, a member of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) board of directors. "That really gives young people the false information and the false sense of security that if they use protection, as they call it, or contraception, that that makes sex safe."
For decades, the state sex education curricula focused on encouraging abstinence until marriage. State and federal agencies even subsidized groups promoting such programs.
Planned Parenthood claims that when comprehensive sex education is taught, that kids wait to have sex until later.
"We would really like to see the definitive studies and the documented studies that show that," Mosack told CitizenLink. "We know that Planned Parenthood sex education has had the lion's share of money for the last 30 years. And they have a dearth of studies that would really validate that claim. But it's a good sound bite, and it makes sense to the public."
Abstinence education, however, is affirmed by 26 peer-reviewed studies.
"(They) show not only that students are likely to delay sex, but they're also no less likely to use a condom if they do become sexually active — which is only a myth portrayed by those who believe abstinence education is ineffective."
Most parents support abstinence education.
In fact, "Parents Speak Out," a national survey released by NAEA last year, shows that nearly 76 percent of Democrat parents with school-aged children support it; the poll found that about 87 percent of Republican parents of school-aged children support it.
The survey also shows that 85 percent of parents believe that all youth — including those with same-sex attractions — benefit from skills that help them choose to wait to have sex.
The Illinois law is not a "done deal," Mosack explained.
"As long as parents speak up and become the squeaky wheel in their school districts, I believe that they can thwart those attempts to really force their schools and their districts to mandate this kind of education."
Contact: Bethany Monk, CitizenLink
