Fundie Teens Have Higher Pregnancy Rate

Past studies have all shown the "abstinence only" version of sex education does not work. States and schools that include teaching about contraceptive devices have lower pregnancy rates than states and schools that teach "abstinence only". Now there is a new study to verify this.

Joseph and Jillian Strayhorn (Drexel University College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh) conducted a study regarding teen birth rates and religiosity. Birth rates were determined by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Religiosity was determined by averaging the answers to eight questions that normally show a very conservative (or fundamentalist) christian belief.

Examples of the 8 true/false questions are "There is only one way to interpret the teachings of my religion" and "Scripture should be taken literally, word for word". By averaging the answers to these questions, the researchers arrived at a religiosity score.

Unsurprisingly, the research shows the states with the highest religiosity scores also had the highest teen birth rates. These are also the states that "teach abstinence only" and refuse to teach contraceptive methods.

The researchers don't believe the teens in high religiosity states are having more sex that teens in other states. It is much more likely they are just having that sex without the use of contraception, thus resulting in a higher pregnancy rate.

It seems that the fundamentalists are much better at discouraging the use of contraception, than they are at discouraging sexual activity among their teens.