Abstinence As Religious Speech

National Physicians Center for Family Resources

The Physicians Consortium

A recent article published in The Southern California Law Review attempted to characterize abstinence education as religious speech and advocated that, as such, it should be removed from the classroom. This analysis is both ill-timed and misguided. Given the recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the abstinence-until-marriage message should be embraced as the medical model for sexual health, both in and out of the classroom.

The CDC report on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) reveals that, with the exception of syphilis, every STI in America is rising. These latest statistics demonstrate the failure of a health education model that advocates protection through knowledge and technology rather than through abstinence. Two generations of Americans have been taught that “safe sex” is possible through consistent condom usage. However, this message has caused Americans to suffer increased rates of sexually transmitted infections, infertility, and adolescent pregnancy.

A brief review of the facts of just one of the prevalent STIs graphically portrays the failure of the “safe sex” message. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infects tens of millions in our nation. An estimated 25 million people have an active infection at any time, with an additional 5.5 million new infections each year. HPV often causes no symptoms and so is spread unknowingly by those infected. At least 45% of college students demonstrate evidence of infection. The recent CDC report on HPV is even more proof of the failure of condoms as protection against the spread of STIs. When used both consistently and correctly, condoms provide good protection for HIV and fair protection for gonorrhea and chlamydia, but are entirely ineffective in preventing the spread of HPV.

Several subtypes of HPV cause cervical cancer, so the rising rates of HPV have long-term implications for society, especially women's health. HPV type 16, the most common of the cancer-causing subtypes, constitutes a growing percentage of the HPV subgroups, infecting 18% of women in the United States and a disproportionate 36% of African-American women ages 20-29. Currently there is no medical cure for HPV infections. If infection is diagnosed through changes seen in a Pap smear, the treatment consists mainly of local control measures. Many thousands of women will need to be treated for pre-cancerous conditions of the cervix, and thousands will die from cervical cancer. In addition, HPV has also been linked to cancer of the penis, anus, vulva, mouth and throat.

If HPV were the only STI, it would still provide the basis for promoting abstinence as the best means of avoiding infection. However, the CDC has identified over 30 STIs, many of which are incurable and increasingly difficult to treat. In fact, the current STI epidemic in America is enormous. To downplay the significance of these diseases and demonize the most promising solution of abstinence education puts another generation at risk. Throughout history, the simple application of the tried and true public health model of primary prevention arrested some of our most devastating diseases. In the case of STI's to quarantine means to arrest the spread of these diseases through abstinence education. This isn't religion, it'sjust good medicine.

Sincerely,

Jane Anderson, MD – San Francisco, California
Advisory Board Member
The National Physicians Center for Family Resources

Dianna Lightfoot – Birmingham, Alabama / Marin County, California
President
National Physicians Center for Family Resources

Hal Wallis, MD – Dallas, Texas
Obstetrics-Gynecology
The Physicians Consortium

John Diggs, MD
Obstetrics - Gynecology
The Physicians Consortium