May 25, 2002
Column #1082
''Chastity Till Marriage Sanctimonious Nonsense?''
Columnist Richard Cohen of The Washington Post sneered recently at a
provision in welfare reauthorization approved by the House which
continued a $50 million appropriation to teach ''abstinence only'' as
the best way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases that
infect 15 million people a year including 3.8 million teenagers.
President Bush praised abstinence recently, saying ''It works every
time.''
Cohen
sputtered that the abstinence only program ''persists despite no
evidence that it works.'' He characterized ''chastity till marriage'' as
''sanctimonious nonsense,'' and even called promoting chastity a
''totalitarian concept'' which is ''truly an abuse of power.''
''No
evidence that it works?'' Consider a report on Uganda in the liberal New
Republic by Arthur Allen. In 1986, after his guerilla force seized
power, Yoweri Museveni sent 60 of his top officers to Cuba for training.
Months later, Fidel Castro told Museveni that 18 of the 60 were
HIV-positive. Museveni took Castro's warning seriously.
Within a
year, he led a nationwide mobilization that involved bishops, imams and
public health experts as well as thousands of small community groups.
The program became known as ABC for ''Abstain, Be Faithful, or wear a
Condom.''
However,
''Ugandans never took to condoms'' says Dr. Vinand Nantulya, an
infectious disease specialist who advised Museveni, a high school chum,
who now directs Harvard's School of Public Health. Therefore, the
message promoted across Uganda was even simpler: abstain from sex until
marriage and then ''zero grazing,'' or fidelity. Billboards promoting
chastity and fidelity are omnipresent in Uganda.
With
what result? In 1991 21 percent of Ugandan pregnant women tested
positive for HIV, but a decade later only 6 percent are infected! By
contrast, in next door Kenya the rate is 15 percent. It is 32 percent in
Zimbabwe and a stunning 38 percent in Botswana - and is growing.
Since
Uganda's experience is unique in sub-Saharan Africa, many ask how it can
be replicated. Museveni's strong leadership was key. Condoms had little
to do with it. Only 5 percent of men use condoms in Uganda.
Most
striking is the drastic reduction of women who have had multiple sex
partners. The number plunged from 18 percent in 1989 to only 2.5 percent
in 2000. And the rate of marriage of those 15 to 19 is 76 percent
compared to 37 percent in neighboring Kenya.
''Uganda's experience suggests that abstinence and fidelity may be the
key to whipping AIDS in Africa,'' concludes The New Republic. ''Uganda's
prevention model has the potential to reduce the AIDS rate in Africa's
worst-stricken countries by 80 percent, the same level of efficacy one
might expect from an HIV vaccine.''
America
also needs to consider this model, which is a deeply Biblical one. Paul
wrote to the Thessalonians: ''For God wants you to be holy and pure, and
to keep clear of all sexual sin so that each of you will marry in
holiness and honor - not in lustful passion as the heathen do, in their
ignorance of God and his ways.''
What's
the legacy of America's ''sexual revolution?'' From 1960 to 2000, the
number of couples cohabiting has soared from 430,000 to 5 million, and
the number of babies born out-of-wedlock jumped from 224,000 to
1,350,000, from 5 to 33 percent of births.
Can
these trends be reversed? Can abstinence be taught to Americans? Since
1996, Congress has appropriated $50 million a year to promote it,
renewed narrowly by the House last week on a 229-197 vote along party
lines.
Teens in
abstinence classes who sign a pledge to remain a virgin are one-fourth
as likely to become sexually active as peers who don't sign.
A
campaign promoting abstinence in Rochester, NY called ''Not Me Not Now''
featured paid TV and radio ads, billboards, an interactive website and
classes. Sexual activity by 15-year- olds fell from 47 to 32 percent.
Teen pregnancies feel from 63 per 1,000 girls to 49.5.
However
the federal Centers for Disease Control do not believe in abstinence.
One ''CDC Program That Works'' is ''Focus on Kids'' which features a
''Condom Race.'' Kids are divided into teams who compete in a race to
put condoms on cucumbers or dildos. They are also asked to ''brainstorm
ways to be close'' such as ''body massage, bathing together,
masturbation, watching erotic movies.'' Parents sign a form agreeing
that what happens ''will not be reported to me.''
Bush met
recently with Museveni. Perhaps Bush will now fire some people at CDC
and begin making an unabashed case for abstinence.
Copyright 2002 Michael J. McManus. |