The Weight of Evidence

A growing number of sex education programs that support both abstinence and the use of contraception have now shown positive effects in delaying sex, improving contraceptive use, and preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease among teens. At present, evaluation research suggests there is no strong evidence that programs that stress abstinence as the only acceptable behavior for unmarried teens delay the initiation of sex, hasten the return to abstinence, or reduce the number of sexual partners. In the battle between abstinence and contraception, we come down squarely on the side of science.