A report has been in the news this week indicating an increase in teen pregnancies for the first time in a decade. This, of course, is being used by many in the media to discredit the use of abstinence education programs funded previously under the Bush administration. Once again, the source of this research is the Guttmacher Institution, which was founded by a former president of Planned Parenthood, making its findings automatically suspect, at best. Is the slight increase the result of an overemphasis on abstinence education as we're being told?
I like what Richard Ross said. He is the cofounder of True Love Waits. "Should we expect the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm for Planned Parenthood, to support abstinence messages?...Here is a similar question: Should we expect General Motors to work hard convincing the public to abandon cars for mass transit? Abstinent teenagers don't get pregnant and thus they don't contribute millions of dollars to the abortion industry. If you want to understand new directions in Washington related to abstinence, follow the money."
