Sex Education And Contraception Reduces Teen Pregnancy In Colorado

[votesparks]

Colorado's teen birth rate dropped 40 percent in five years—years during which a donor-funded initiative provided 30,000 free or low-cost contraceptive devices to low-income women.

Colorado is saving money thanks to the drop in teen pregnancy: Medicaid costs are lowered by $5.68 for every dollar spent on the contraception program. Because pregnancy, childbirth, and pediatric care are more expensive than IUDs.

[markpkessinger]

1. And that is exactly why evangelical fundamentalists will oppose things like this . . .

Conservative Christians oppose sensible programs like this, and will push hard for "abstinence-only" sex ed curricula instead. Any rational person looking at the issue would think that for folks who are so opposed to abortion, that anything that helped reduce the demand for abortions would be a good thing, right? But no, they will insist on abstinence-only curricula, despite ample evidence that such curricula do nothing to prevent teen pregnancies or to protect teens from contracting STDs.

So why is that? (So wonders any rational human being.)

It's like this: at the true root of evangelical fundamentalist opposition to abortion lies not some grand theological principle of the sanctity of life, nor any genuine concern about unborn babies. On virtually all of the hot-button issues that in any way tangentially relate to sex -- be it contraception, sexual health, same-sex relationships, teen pregnancies, etc. -- the real driver is fear that people will be able to engage in sexual relations of which they do not approve, and do so without dire, life-altering consequences as a result. They want boys and girls (but especially girls) who violate their beliefs about when, where and with whom they may engage in sex with to incur deleterious, or at least life-altering, consequences as a result. They can then hold these consequences up to their children as 'proof' of divine judgment against sexual 'misbehavior' or 'sin.' For these folks, the fact that abstinence-only curricula fail to reduce teen pregnancy rates and can result in STDs being transmitted is a feature, not a bug. And programs like the one in Colorado, which might enable kids to have sex without these consequences, that's what really keeps these folks up at night. It's all about controlling people.