Ill Conceived

Abstinence-Only Sex Education

Listen Later

There's one guaranteed way to never get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted infection: not having sex. In the 1990s, the United States government expanded efforts to fund programs that taught adolescents this fact. Unfortunately, that funding came with a few restrictions—most notably, the programs weren't allowed to promote or demonstrate any type of contraception whatsoever. This week, June and Josh try to figure out how these abstinence-only until marriage sex education initiatives got so much traction for so long.

***IN EDINBURGH THIS WEEK? Get tickets to the play Josh is directing, THE BOY FROM BANTAY, by clicking here!***

EPISODE ART: A graph from a report commissioned by the United States government to study the effectiveness of four abstinence-only sex education programs. There is no meaningful difference in outcomes between those who participated in the program and those who didn't.

SOURCES:

  • "Budget Widens Teen-Pregnancy-Prevention Efforts" by Laura Meckler (The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2009)
  • "Clinton Fires Surgeon General Over New Flap" by Paul Richter and Marlene Cimons (Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1994)
  • History of Dedicated Federal Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs FY 1982-2019 from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)
  • "Context counts: Long‐term sequelae of premarital intercourse or abstinence" by Nicole M. Else-Quest, Janet Shibley Hyde & John D. DeLamater (The Journal of Sex Research, 2005)
  • Full text of Section 510, the Separate Program for Abstinence Education
  • "Whatever Happened to the Adolescent Family Life Act?" by Rebecca Saul (Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 1998)
  • "Clinton Frees $250 Million for Sex Abstinence Teaching" by Melissa Healy (Los Angeles Times, March 1, 1997)
  • "Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Programs" report, published by HHS in 2007
  • "Consequences of sex education on teen and young adult sexual behaviors and outcomes" by Laura Duberstein Lindberg & Isaac Maddow-Zimet (The Journal of Adolescent Health, 2012)
  • "Funding for Abstinence-Only Education and Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention: Does State Ideology Affect Outcomes?" by Ashley M Fox, Georgia Himmelstein, Hina Khalid & Elizabeth A. Howell (American Journal of Public Health, 2019)
  • "Sex Education in Public Schools: Sexualization of Children and LGBT Indoctrination" by Cathy Ruse (Family Research Council, 2020)
  • "The History of Federal Abstinence-Only Funding" fact sheet (Advocates for Youth, 2007)
  • "Abstinence Education: Assessing the Evidence" by Christine C. Kim and Robert Rector (Heritage Foundation, 2008)

    • AUDIO CLIPS:

    • 29:58 - Rush Limbaugh talking about Joycelyn Elders on an episode of the Rush Limbaugh Show ca. 1994
    • 35:30 - Joycelyn Elders in an interview with the National Visionary Leadership Project
    • 1:04:03 - "Learn Gun Safety with Eddie Eagle" children's training video from the National Rifle Association (NRA)

      • FOLLOW THE SHOW:

      • Send us an email: [email protected]
      • Website: illconceivedpodcast.com
      • Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com
      • Tumblr: @illconceivedpod

        • FOLLOW JOSH:

        • Website: joshboerman.com
        • Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world
        • Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds
        • Stream: Traditional Scrench

          • FOLLOW JUNE:

          • Bluesky: @junlper.beer
          • Other podcast: Kill The Computer
          • Writing: June's Substack
            • ...more
            View all episodesView all episodes
            Download on the App Store
            Ill ConceivedBy Josh Boerman & June Sternbach
            • 4.5
            • 4.5
            • 4.5
            • 4.5
            • 4.5

            4.5

            270 ratings

            More shows like Ill Conceived

            View all
            Trillbilly Worker's Party by Trillbilly Worker's Party

            Trillbilly Worker's Party

            1,949 Listeners

            TRASHFUTURE by TRASHFUTURE

            TRASHFUTURE

            592 Listeners

            Some More News by SomeMoreNews | PodcastOne

            Some More News

            2,584 Listeners

            Behind the Bastards by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

            Behind the Bastards

            15,684 Listeners

            Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast by Lions Led By Donkeys

            Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

            1,807 Listeners

            QAA Podcast by Julian Feeld, Travis View & Jake Rockatansky

            QAA Podcast

            4,304 Listeners

            It Could Happen Here by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

            It Could Happen Here

            6,249 Listeners

            Well There‘s Your Problem by WTYP is Justin Roczniak, November Kelly, Liam McAnderson, and friends.

            Well There‘s Your Problem

            1,324 Listeners

            Kill James Bond! by November, Abigail, and Devon

            Kill James Bond!

            443 Listeners

            Guys: With Bryan Quinby by Bryan

            Guys: With Bryan Quinby

            969 Listeners

            Better Offline by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

            Better Offline

            609 Listeners

            Kill The Computer by mail@killthecomputer.com

            Kill The Computer

            377 Listeners

            The Worst of All Possible Worlds by Josh Boerman, A.J. Ditty, and Brian Alford

            The Worst of All Possible Worlds

            144 Listeners

            Weird Little Guys by iHeartPodcasts and Cool Zone Media

            Weird Little Guys

            1,033 Listeners

            No Gods No Mayors by The Office of the Mayor

            No Gods No Mayors

            111 Listeners