Letters to the Editor:
Abstinence Education Makes Huge Contribution
Toni Meyer, Sr. Research Analyst, NJ Family Policy Council

Thank you for the informative article “Just Don’t Do It” (3/17/07).  However there is one very critical error.  The percentage contribution that was quoted regarding the contribution abstinence education has made in lowering the teen pregnancy rate was seriously underestimated.   There are two significant statistical studies which show the sizable contribution of abstinence versus contraceptive education; neither of which were mentioned in the article. 

First, the CDC’s 2004 report determined that abstinence education was responsible for 53 percent of the drop in teen pregnancy from 1990-2001, while some 47 percent of the decrease was attributed to contraceptive use.  A second peer-reviewed study released April 2003 by the Adolescent and Family Health Journal also shows that among unmarried teenage girls, ages 15-19, increased abstinence education accounted for 67 percent of the decrease in the pregnancy rate.

As evident by these studies, the contribution abstinence has made is far greater than the 14 percent number that was cited from the Guttmacher Institute, who has demonstrated they are more supportive of contraceptive education. In addition they are the research arm for Planned Parenthood who is hostile towards true abstinence education and biased towards contraceptive education.

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