The Independent Women’s Forum says the pregnancy of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter doesn’t mean abstinence-only education has failed.
National Organization for Women (NOW) president Kim Gandy recently stated that the unplanned pregnancy of Bristol Plain — the 17-year-old daughter of the GOP vice-presidential candidate — “highlights the right wing’s foolish and dangerous abstinence-only education stance.” But Alison Kasic of the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) disagrees.
“The most important thing to remember is that any single instance or any single example isn’t proof of anything,” Kasic points out. “It isn’t proof that this was a horrible sex-education system, and it isn’t proof that it was a great sex-education system.”
She also notes that it is not known what type of sex education was taught at Palin’s daughter’s school. “Regardless of what is taught, that doesn’t guarantee behavior on the student’s part,” Kasic contends. “So there is [sic] just so many non sequiturs here that it’s a little ridiculous that anyone can make those sorts of statements when it’s just so far removed from the point of origin.”
According to Kasic, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to education, and the debate about the content of sex education is a great example for the need for school choice.