ACLU vs. Abstinence
October 07, 2005
Janet Parshall

The ACLU is gearing up for another battle against abstinence education. A program called “Not in My State” was designed by the group to influence schools and politicians to reject abstinence education.

The director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom project charges that state officials need to be responsible for what’s taught in their classrooms. What they want is the promotion of condom usage. But the problem is that condoms fail and abstinence doesn’t.

The group wants schools to think that if they promote abstinence until marriage, they’re really advancing a religious concept—and that opens the door to the fear of litigation.

It’s a crafty plan—with one problem: Abstinence saves lives and it works every time. We know that when students sign virginity pledges they’re much more likely to have fewer sexual partners and more likely to postpone sexual relations until marriage. Being abstinent until marriage is a message that not only works but it’s getting through to a growing numbers of kids who are signing on to the concept—and that’s what is really making the ACLU mad. Beyond the News