Clinging to their abstinence fantasy

The NY Times has an article today on the rising teen pregnancy rate ("Teenage Birth Rate Rises for First Time Since ’91"). The evidence is mounting that abstinence education may not only be stupid and ineffective, it may actually increase teen pregnancy (and STD transmission rates):

The federal government spends $176 million annually on such programs. But a landmark study recently failed to demonstrate that they have any effect on delaying sexual activity among teenagers, and some studies suggest that they may actually increase pregnancy rates.

But the right-wingers are still clinging to their abstinence fantasy:

Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said that blaming abstinence-only programs was “stupid.” Mr. Rector said that most young women who became pregnant were highly educated about contraceptives but wanted to have babies.

and

Mr. Rector of the Heritage Foundation said that teenage and unmarried birth rates were driven by the same factors: young women with little education who are devoted to mothering but see no great need to be married.

“We should be telling them that for the well-being of any child, it’s critically important that you be over the age of 20 and that you be married,” he said. “That message is not given at all.”

What, REALLY? Most teenage girls who get pregnant PLANNED IT because they are DEVOTED TO MOTHERING?! How exactly does one qualify to be a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, anyway? Because my deranged electric-cord chewing cat could really use a job.

Attention non-virgins: you're nothing but a used-up linty piece of tape

Saw this in the NY Times a few days ago, and had to mention despite my obscene lack of sleep lately:

“You have to look at why sex was created,” Eric Love, the director of the East Texas Abstinence Program, which runs Virginity Rules, said one day, the sounds of Christian contemporary music humming faintly in his Longview office. “Sex was designed to bond two people together.”

To make the point, Mr. Love grabbed a tape dispenser and snapped off two fresh pieces. He slapped them to his filing cabinet and the floor; they trapped dirt, lint, a small metal bolt. “Now when it comes time for them to get married, the marriage pulls apart so easily,” he said, trying to unite the grimy strips. “Why? Because they gave the stickiness away.”

Huh? More on this from Feministing.

NYC June 22: Let's Talk About Sex! Planned Parenthood book event w/ Mikhaela Reid, Jessica Valenti and Amber Madison!

Let's Talk About Sex! (If You're Into that Sort of Thing)

• Location: Think Coffee, 248 Mercer Street New York, NY (212) 228-6226
• Date: 6/22/2007 from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
• Hosted By: Planned Parenthood, choicevoice@ppnyc.org
• RSVP by: June 21, 2007 at 2:00 pm

A bold and brazen discussion with three writers who know their stuff:

Jessica Valenti, 28, is the founder and Executive Editor of Feministing.com and the author of Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters.

Amber Madison, 23, is currently touring colleges throughout the country giving sex talks, and has made a number of television and radio appearances in support of her book, Hooking Up: A Girls All-out Guide to Sex and Sexuality, most recently on NBC's Today Show. www.ambermadisononline.com

Mikhaela Reid, 27, recently published her first book, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela, available June 4th, 2007. She graduated from Harvard University in 2003, where she studied social anthropology and photography and drew weekly political cartoons for the Harvard Crimson. www.mikhaela.net

Join us for a conversation about what's good, what's bad, and what's just plain weird about being young and sexual in today's America.

Note: I'll be doing a mini cartoon slideshow for this one, focused on the cartoons I've done about sexuality and reproductive rights.

New Toons: Abstinence Education, Shock Prez + Apocalypse Bob

A new federal study shows that abstinence education has no effect whatsoever on delaying sexual activity. Shocking!

Also, there really is a (comedy) movie called Killer Condom: The Rubber That Rubs You Out, though I haven't seen it myself. OK, so maybe New York charging cars $8 to cut down on pollution and traffic and improve public transport won't stave off environmental apocalypse, but it's a start. (Personally, I'd rather see NO personal cars in the city—maybe then I'd be brave enough to take my bike into Manhattan!). A sequel to 2005's "Sick Confessions of a Serial Bomber!" I did it before I went away on vacation, and it already feels pretty dated. Ah well.

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

P.P.S. My first book collection, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela!, goes on sale in just a few short weeks!

164 pages of scientific proof that abstinence-only education doesn't work

If we had a reality-based government or media, this federal report would be a big story, especially since so many millions are spent per year promotiong and/or mandating abstinence-only education and silencing methods of STD and pregnancy prevention that actually work. But it doesn't fit in with the agenda of the Christian Right, and so it gets buried. From the AP:

WASHINGTON --Students who took part in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress. Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes that were reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex at about the same age as other students -- 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc. The federal government now spends about $176 million annually on abstinence-until-marriage education. Critics have repeatedly said they don't believe the programs are working, and the study will give them reinforcement...