Abstinence educators are crying foul over a report that claims their programs do not delay the initiation of sex, hasten the return to abstinence or reduce the number of sexual partners among teens.
Douglas Kirby, author of the study, is a staff member of ETR, a company that specializes in condom-based sex education curricula.
Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said that alone should cast doubt on the validity of the research.
“The more that he can say that abstinence education does not work, the more money he makes," she told Family News in Focus. "This is biased to the extreme.”
In response, Kirby said: "That is absolutely not true. I personally do not benefit in any way financially or other.”
He said he's only trying to debunk the idea that condom-based sex education promotes promiscuity.
But Klepacki said no matter how Kirby spins it, his company stands to make more money.
“That statement is similar to me publishing research through Focus on the Family that consistently said that comprehensive sex education doesn’t work," she explained. "I would profit in my job salary, I would profit perhaps in compensation and other ways.”
Klepacki said that the biased study used a small sample of abstinence programs to make broad conclusions. And she added that it's certainly no accident the report was released just as Congress considered how much funding it will give to abstinence education.
“And then these reports are reported as fact in our liberal media.”
