In 2011 the state of Mississippi passed a law requiring all public schools to teach abstinence education.  This was done with good reason: Mississippi had a terrible track record when it came to teens having sex and teen birth rates.  Back in 1993, the first year the Centers for Disease Control kept track of such things, Mississippi was ranked highest in the country for the number of teens who were sexually active.  According to CDC findings, 69% of MS teens had engaged in sex and the state’s teen birth rates were ranked among the nation’s highest.

Since the law was passed, the percentage of students who had sex decreased more than during any other 6-year-period, based on CDC records.  The percent of Mississippi teens who chose to wait for sex during that time period ranked the state near the top for “most improved.”

Dr. Freda Bush, a Mississippi ob/gyn hailed the success.  “The delay of sexual activity is one of the primary goals for teens.  Sexual Risk Avoidance education, which our state has adopted, does not normalize teen sex but encourages sexual delay.”

Ascend (formerly the National Abstinence Education Association) champions abstinence education programs, also known as sexual risk avoidance (SRA) education, as opposed to “comprehensive sex education,” which  teaches abstinence as merely one option among many.  Mary Anne Mosack, Director for State Initiatives at Ascend, commented on the MS law and its results.  “No other state has mandated SRA education in every school.  After only four years, the results are extraordinarily impressive.  The Mississippi model is worth replicating more broadly.”

When the Mississippi law was passed, it came under heavy fire from the mainstream media, which generally derides abstinence education as outdated and ineffectual.  I asked Valerie Huber, President of Ascend, about that.  “The negative narrative by the major media surrounding SRA education relies upon stereotypes and misinformation, but this data shows that youth benefit from this approach.  The CDC data also confirms that this is an approach that is increasingly relevant in today’s sex-saturated culture.”

Speaking of laws and common-sense education, LiveActionNews reports that  the state of Oklahoma has proposed a law requiring schools to teach fetal development.  Considering the advances made in the last few years which allow us to understand what’s happening at various stages of a preborn baby’s development, it seems logical to include that scientific knowledge in school curricula.  Embryology is simply biology, right?  Apparently not, if you’re pro-abortion.  Reporter Nora Caplan-Bricker at Slate condemns the proposed law, citing concerns that it will take time away from other subject matter and will require additional funding.  Claiming there’s a “totalitarian tinge” to it, Caplan-Bricker also manages to bring the argument back to the need for more comprehensive sex education. 

And around we go.