The Attack on Abstinence Education: Fact or Fallacy?

Written by Kate Hendricks, MD, MPH&TM, Patricia Thickstun, PhD, Anjum Khurshid, MBBS, MPAff, Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS, Harold Thiele, PhD

Executive Summary - (Click for full report)

The Journal of Adolescent Health published a review article entitled Abstinence and abstinence-only education^a: A review of US policies and programs¹ and a second article entitled Abstinence-only education policies and programs: A position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine² in the January 2006 issue. Both were written by a team of authors headed by John Santelli, and the position paper simply restates the arguments presented in the review article. The authors of these 2 articles claim that abstinence programs “threaten fundamental human rights to health, information, and life.” They say that “abstinence as a sole option for adolescents is scientifically and ethically problematic. . . [and that] abstinence-only education programs . . . are morally problematic.”

Historical Christianity and Birth Control

The Anglican Church was the first major mainstream Christian sect to approve the use of contraceptives. In the few years that followed, all other major Christian communities followed with the exception of the Catholic Church. The following were the resolutions made in 1930 for the limited use of contraceptives and in 1958 for their unlimited use.

Fr. Tom Euteneuer, President of Human Life International, hosts a mini-series on contraception. He discusses the overpopulation myth, the relationship between abortion and contraception, and natural family planning. He address both the religious and non-religious aspects of these issues.

While the series is from the Catholic viewpoint, it is great for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Visit the mini-series home page at: HLI's Resources on Contraception Page

The following links will take you directly to the videos and transcripts of the series.