Grading on the Condom Scale

Campus Progress has a piece grading some of Obama's budget initiatives on a condom scale drawn by yours truly.

164 pages of scientific proof that abstinence-only education doesn't work

If we had a reality-based government or media, this federal report would be a big story, especially since so many millions are spent per year promotiong and/or mandating abstinence-only education and silencing methods of STD and pregnancy prevention that actually work. But it doesn't fit in with the agenda of the Christian Right, and so it gets buried. From the AP:

WASHINGTON --Students who took part in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress. Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes that were reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex at about the same age as other students -- 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc. The federal government now spends about $176 million annually on abstinence-until-marriage education. Critics have repeatedly said they don't believe the programs are working, and the study will give them reinforcement...