njlauren
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quote:
ORIGINAL: GotSteel
So when you start talking about abstinence as a method of birth control and comparing them the only honest way to do it is to measure them in equivalent manners.
You've cited a stat for a method of birth control which counts
*defective birth control
*misused birth control
*sometimes not using the birth control at all
So when you call abstinence birth control and compare it's effectiveness it has to be measured the same way.
*defective abstinence counts
*misused abstinence counts
*sometimes not using abstinence counts
This is the point the rest of us have been making.
The problem is there are two axes here, there is the effectiveness of the method and the second one is how likely it is to be used, and it is important, the net positive result for any birth control method is a comination of the two.
Abstinence is near 100% effective at preventing pregnancy or STD's, there is no doubt about it. Don't have sex (other than masturbation, that unfortunately the idiots teaching abstinence only also say not to do, fucking geniuses they are), you won't get pregnant or get an STD, barring some freak occurrence (you could theoretically get an STD if you touch let's say semen or vaginal secretions with the disease, with an open cut, kiss someone with syphillis in the mouth region, or get pregnant if somehow sperm got into your vagina, like sitting on a surface with sperm.....but neither is going to happen more than lightening striking, chances are if you got an std or pregnant, it happened through some sort of sexualized contact, even if you don't have penetrative sex of any kind...).
The problem with abstinence is the second axis, despite all the hellfire and damnation preaching, the 'sex makes you a slut', etc, for thousands of years, it hasn't worked. All abstinence only 'education' does is delay onset of sex, it doesn't prevent it, but what it does do is when the kids have sex, they don't have information on reality........like I said, 90% of people are not virgins when they marry, what does that tell you, and the typical age of losing ones virginity is in the mid teen years....
Condoms if used right, especially with a spermicide, are around 98% effective (obviously, key word is if used right).....so they are pretty effective, especially if combines with something else, like vaginal foam.
Problem with condoms is on the second axes, use, a lot of guys hate condoms, complain they make sex non fun, etc, and a lot of guys will tell a gal no condoms...or they will have sex when drunk, or in the moment, and don't think to stop and use one. It is a deliberate process....
The pill is more effective than condoms when used properly i.e the girl has taken them, and also hasn't taken anti biotics. Because it is always there, don't need to worry about thinking about a condom, so from the second axis, it is better than either condoms or abstinence. Problem is of course it doesn't prevent STD's, so if we look at it from that angle, major problem, means you need to know if the guy you are with is clean, and vice versa, takes some luck and thought..
In terms of pregnancy prevention, using fertile cycles can work, even the Catholic NFP (which is not the Rhythm method...) can work to prevent pregnancy, but the problem is it isn't quite as effective as condoms or obviously the pill, and it takes a lot of conscious thought to track the cycles, and to not have sex during the fertile period. People use this as birth control, and it works, and during the fertile period non vaginal sex is an option, so it shouldn't be a big deal..still, it requires planning and effort to do this, and it does have an inherent oops factor larger than condoms or the pill even if used right......and the odds of screwing up are larger IMO.
It is why abstinence plus is so, so important. I think that telling kids to wait until they are emotionally and intellectually prepared for sex is important and that not having sex may be wise until they can handle it, but it also means giving them options if they do have sex. Rather than as the blind moralists types claim, seeing sex as something that happens because kids are taught about it, so sex ed promotes sex, it sees sex as a major emotional and physical thing that isn't easy to keep in the bottle, and in abstienence plus it stresses the power and responsibility of sex, rather than demonizes it outside marriage as a 'sin', and encourages kids to think about it, the consequences, and make intelligent decisions if they choose to have sex, and gives them resources, like knowledge of birth control methods, to help prevent the oops..all abstinence only does is the same thing preachers have been saying for thousands of years, that sex outside marriage is a sin, that sex itself is some sort of shameful act outside making babies and all the other drool, and it doesn't work, scare tactics don't work......heck, neither does logic, people are going to screw up, make mistakes, but with Abstinence plus the idea is to minimize the numbers...
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RE: End ABSTINANCE "education"! ( Since it'... - 
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