Abstinence Only Programs An Expensive Failure

Former President G.W. Bush and his right wing cohorts pushed for abstinence programs to replace traditional forms of sex education in schools. This was a bad idea and has been ineffective in stemming teen age pregnancies.
Currently the U.S. government doles out $176 million a year supporting these programs. $176 million a year! That is ridiculous. How could it cost that much to tell teenagers not to have sex?
The answer is obvious. This is a way G.W. Bush paid off some of his right wing supporters. You can read that two ways. First, the money. Who benefited from all that money? And secondly this was pandering to the right wing who oppose sex education and free choice on abortion.
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America,said the federal abstinence only program was "an utter failure that has wasted more than $1.5 billion" over the past decade. She noted that several major studies,including a federally funded review,have found no evidence that the abstinence only approach works in deterring teen sex.