Parshall said, "The notion that the abstinence message can be effectively conveyed alongside the so-called 'safer sex' gospel is absurd. Although this study concedes that abstinence-only education has not been studied thoroughly, it downplays the fact that we have only been instructing teens about the proper context of sex since 1998, with the introduction of Title V funds for abstinence education. The little research that has been done on the effectiveness of abstinence education, however, does not bode well for the condom-tossers of the world."

This past February, the Consortium of State Physician Resource Councils, an association of more than 2,000 doctors, released a study that found the decline in adolescent pregnancy, abortion and birth rates in the 1990s is attributable to abstinence not to an increase in condom use.

"Ministers of the 'safer sex' gospel contend condoms are teens' salvation, but they neglect to tell teens that condoms are ineffective in protecting against the most prevalent sexually-transmitted disease, HPV -- a disease that is responsible for 99.7 percent of all cervical cancer cases in the United States," Parshall said. "That's an egregious oversight that should be tolerated no longer. There are many holes in the condom enthusiasts' arguments, and it's time for them to be exposed."

SOURCE: Family Research Council

WEB SITE: http://www.frc.org/

CO: Family Research Council; Kaiser Family Foundation; Alan Guttmacher Institute; Consortium of State Physician Resource Councils