Phyllis Schlafly stood at the forefront of almost every major political battle during her seventy years of public life. She became most famous for launching the pro-family movement by rallying Americans who acknowledged the fundamental role the traditional family plays in building productive citizens and strong communities. With her pro-family compatriots, Phyllis stopped the Equal Rights Amendment and set about securing other victories for parents and their children.
When the Left started pushing sex education curriculums that many parents found objectionable, America turned to Phyllis Schlafly to be the voice of parents. Phyllis boldly declared in countless television news programs, radio segments, and writings that it should be parents, not teachers, who decide what is moral and right for their children. If a school wanted to teach about attitudes towards sex, Phyllis said that they should teach abstinence before marriage as the only safe and healthy lifestyle choice.
The argument for abstinence education is more than just a contest of competing systems of morality between parents and teachers. Abstinence education is about what is scientifically demonstrable and statistically effective. Of course, those on the Left are not big fans of science or statistics when the facts do not suit their purposes. Yet, when pressed on the subject, even proponents of so-called “safe-sex” will admit that abstinence is the only totally safe and healthy method of birth control.
When forced to admit that fact, these safe-sex proponents run to the common misconception that abstinence education simply does not work. That is demonstrably untrue. Take for example the highly-successful Collier Community Abstinence Project, started by Phyllis’s close friend Kathleen Sullivan in 2006. In just a few short years, the program has resulted in a 63% decrease in births to unwed teen girls. In addition, Collier County, FL has seen a dramatic reduction in bacterial STDs. In fact, Collier moved from being ranked 27th lowest in bacterial STDs to 4th lowest out of 67 counties in Florida. Clearly, abstinence education works.
Never forget that conservatives stand clearly on the side of science and statistics when it comes to abstinence education.
