Abstinence adversaries vent

By Tom Quiner

A reader took me to task for my post, “Abstinence vs. contraception:”

“This is a perfect story to share, it illustrates every point I’d like to make. A 13 year old girl having sex behind her parents back will obviously not have had an open discussion about birth control with them. Someone who gets pregnant while on the pill and using condoms is not using either correctly. I used condoms for almost 20 years with no problems, and then got pregnant within two months of trying for a child. You cannot sell these lies and expect to be taken seriously.”

The reader is rather touchy on this subject, accusing me of being a liar when I was simply quoting a letter from Dear Abby. Write Abby. Call her the liar, not this sensitive blogger.
Actually, the reader inadvertently makes my point. Adults are more likely to use contraception properly than teens, and even then, it can fail. Nonetheless, the abstinence adversary is not easily deterred:

“This child was an ignorant product of a society that does not educate teenagers appropriately. It is more likely that if her parents had had a frank and open discussion with her about sex, she would have chosen to wait till she was older, or at least would have know how to use birth control correctly.”

Actually, kids are getting lots of info about contraception. The writer to Abby emphasized she was “careful” in her use of contraception, going so far as to use double protection (the pill and condoms).
And yet she STILL got pregnant. Doesn’t that make adults want to scratch their heads and ponder if the acceptance of promiscuity is really a good thing? Shouldn’t we be rethinking this birth control fetish of the Left?
NO, says my reader:

“Presumably she was practicing abstinence (one of your 100%) *before* she started having sex. The abstinence statistic is utterly meaningless unless people can stay abstinent. You know this is not the case, please stop using it as if it means anything.”

Actually, I agree. Abstinence only works if you continue to abstain. Kids are more likely to abstain if adults provide the moral leadership to encourage such honorable behavior.
Kids are more like to take the plunge into promiscuity if adults think they’re going to do it anyway, so they’d better get some “protection.”
I guess I think more of our youth than the typical liberal.