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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: abstinence education

abstinence education stories: 17 news summaries

Senate Finance Panel Agrees
at Last—to Fund Abstinence Ed

Conrad, Lincoln, join GOP to pass measure

(Newser) - On the same day it voted to kill Democrats' hopes for a health bill with a public option, the Senate Finance Committee showed the love to abstinence. Committee Republicans displayed a little nostalgia for the Bush administration, voting to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education... More »

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sex education abstinence education Orrin Hatch Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus Kent Conrad Blanche Lincoln

 Wanna Have Sex? 
 Picture 'Screaming 
 Baby': Bristol 

Teen mom ensures years of therapy for her child with one comment

(Newser) - Bristol Palin thinks the best advertisement for abstinence is “a screaming newborn baby,” she tells People in a look at the life of a teenage mom. “If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex,” says Bristol, who graduated high school last week,... More »

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abstinence education abstinence teen pregnancy teen sex Bristol Palin Levi Johnston Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston

(Newser) - Take that, Bristol. The Obama administration seeks to cut most federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama's proposed budget for 2010 would scrap two programs that fund abstinence education—with $145 million—and replace them with a $160 million initiative that funnels 75%... More »

OPINION
(Newser) - When the Candie’s teen fashion line came under fire for dressing high school girls like hookers, it formed a nonprofit to fight teen pregnancy. And when the foundation needed a “teen ambassador,” it called Bristol Palin. “Can I say upfront that this is a terrible, terrible... More »

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abstinence education teen pregnancy Gail Collins Sarah Palin Bristol Palin Todd Palin Levi Johnston Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston

 Sex Query? 
 Experts Help 
 Teens Via 
 Texting 

Health professionals text teens answers to anonymous sex questions

(Newser) - Teenagers no longer need to reveal their angst over pregnancy or noisy sex in crowded classrooms, the New York Times reports. Public health officials, fretting over the state of sex ed in US schools, are now answering questions via text message. Some use multiple choice menus and automated responses, but... More »

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pregnancy North Carolina sex education abstinence education STD text message texting teenager mobile phones

Mississippi Has Most Teen Pregnancies

State passes Texas
and New Mexico in nationwide uptick

(Newser) - Mississippi has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the US, the AP reports. Some 68 Mississippi women out of 1,000 aged 15-19 got pregnant in 2006—the most recent year for which data are available, and in which the US rate rose for the first time in 15... More »

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pregnancy Texas New Mexico abstinence education Mississippi teen pregnancy celebrity pregnancy teenager pregnant women wowOwow

Abstinence Vows Don't Work: Study

Teens who pledge purity still do it, and they use protection less

(Newser) - Taking an abstinence pledge made teenagers no less likely to have sex before marriage but significantly less likely to use contraceptives when they did have sex, the Washington Post reports. “Previous studies would compare a mixture of apples and oranges,” said Janet Rosenbaum, the author of a new... More »

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contraception study sex research abstinence education abstinence premarital sex condoms

 Obama Reviews 
 Abortion Rules 

Bush's abstinence initiatives, Reagan's 'gag rule' could go way of dodo.

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s transition team is hard at work deciding how and when to undo the Bush administration’s abortion policies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bush’s ban on federal stem cell research funding will be among the first to go—a move that has broad bipartisan support—... More »

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Barack Obama abortion abstinence education George W. Bush pro-life regulations pro-choice activists

Palin, McCain Differ on Sex
Education

Senator supports abstinence-only; she
is 'pro-contraception'

(Newser) - Sarah Palin and John McCain differ on sex education, with Palin favoring both contraceptive and abstinence education in schools—while McCain and the GOP platform support teaching abstinence only, the Los Angeles Times observes. “I'm pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should... More »

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John McCain contraception sex education abstinence education Election 2008 Sarah Palin

Teen Sex Rate Stops Dropping

Condom use also levels off, reviving debate about abstinence sex ed

(Newser) - A decade-long drop in the teen sex rate leveled off between 2001-2007 and it may now be slowly rising again, the Washington Post reports. The government survey of thousands of high school students also found that an increase in condom use flattened out in 2003. The numbers have alarmed public... More »

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birth control condom abstinence education abstinence teen pregnancy teen sex teenager

Abstinence Campaign Targets Parents

Advocates of embattled sex-ed program launch $1M drive

(Newser) - Abstinence-based sex-ed advocates have launched a campaign to rally a million parents to support the method, the Washington Post reports. The $1-million Parents for Truth campaign has sent e-mails pushing the approach to some 30,000 supporters and parents, with plans to to contact 100,000 more this week. The... More »

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parents sex sex education abstinence education teenager

Women Reclaim Virginity
Through Faith, Surgery

Growing number seek to stake a new claim to innocence

(Newser) - Efforts to reclaim lost virginity appear to be gaining steam across the country, MSNBC reports. More young women are declaring a sexual do-over, with some even opting for surgical replacement of the hymen, say doctors who’ve seen an increase in the procedures. “I felt really bad from a... More »

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women marriage religion sex sexuality Virginity Rules abstinence education abstinence virginity

Bush Pushes Abstinence in AIDS Program

In Tanzania, president prods Congress to renew global aid pact

(Newser) - President Bush urged Congress today to “stop squabbling” and renew his global AIDS program, which provides medication and treatment for millions and earmarks funds for abstinence efforts. In Tanzania, his African tour’s second stop, Bush signed a $700 million aid package, saying, “We don’t want people... More »

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Barack Obama Tanzania aid abstinence education Liberia Rwanda abstinence HIV/AIDS Ghana US Congress Benin Jakaya Kikwete AIDS prevention PEFPAR George W. Bush

Abstinence Ed. Isn't Slowing Teen Sex

Celibacy-only programs have little 'positive impact,' study argues

(Newser) - Abstinence-only sex-education courses funded by the federal government are no match for teenage libido, according to a new study from a non-partisan group seeking to reduce teen pregnancy. The study found such programs had less “positive impact” than more comprehensive curricula, the AP reports, and dismissed as myth the... More »

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pregnancy sex education abstinence education safe sex abstinence teenager

Senator Has Hots for Anti-Sex Ed

Arlen Specter racks
up $8M for abstinence education in state

(Newser) - Arlen Specter has won over $8 million in earmarks for abstinence education in Pennsylvania, sparking jibes from critics and accusations of political pandering. The moderate Republican senator supports abortion rights and sex education, Politico reports, leading some to cry hypocrisy when he directs money to no-sex-until-marriage projects like Coolvirginity.com. More »

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earmarks Arlen Specter Pennsylvania abstinence education abstinence

Falling Teen
Sex Rates Stall

Experts worry plateau could signal start of increased activity and more teen pregnancies

(Newser) - After steadily dropping for a decade, the US teenage sex rate leveled off in 2001 and has stalled there since, according to a government study. What caused the halt in the trend is unclear, but it coincides with the beginning of increased funding for abstinence-only sex education and may reflect... More »

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pregnancy sex sex education abstinence education abstinence teenager

States Say No
to Abstinence Programs

Schools bail on sexless sex ed, even as more teens delay sex

(Newser) - School sex education programs that concentrate on abstinence are under threat despite years of federal funding for organizations like Virginity Rules, the New York Times reports. Eleven states have rejected abstinence education in the last year and Congress cut program funding for the first time since 2001. A study of... More »

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Planned Parenthood sex education Virginity Rules abstinence education abstinence

17 Stories