Thursday, January 4, 2007

Many thanks to everyone who came to my debate with Virginia Vitzthum at Lolita Bar last night; I hope to publish photos (and perhaps even video) after work tonight.

Some audience members were skeptical when, following Vitzthum's assertion that abstinence education caused pregnancy rates to rise, I said that there was conflicting data on that account. Here is the most recent article I can find on the subject at this late-night hour; it cites studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals. If you have links to any more recent articles citing the effectiveness of abstinence-education programs, please feel free to post them in the comments section. Of course, you may also post studies that make the opposite claim; my point was simply that there does exist significant data in favor of abstinence education's effectiveness. Many of the arguments against the effectiveness of such education are based on Rep. Henry Waxman's report, but that has been found to be riddled with inaccuracies.