'Teens, regardless of whether they have a taken a virginity pledge, are engaging in behaviors that put them at risk for STDs and unintended pregnancy. It is vitally important that we provide all teens with the information and skills they need to protect themselves.'

In fact, the study participants who made the virignity pledges contracted STDs at the same rate as their peers who had not pledged. The pledgers were less likely to use condoms to prevent STDs, and they were less likely to seek medical testing and treatment, increasing possibility of transmission, the researchers found.

Alternative Behaviors

Study authors Hannah Bruckner of Yale University and Peter Bearman of Columbia University concluded that some pledgers engaged in alternative sexual behaviors in order to preserve their virginity. In fact, among those who had not had vaginal intercourse, pledgers were more likely to have engaged in both oral and anal sex than their non-pledging peers.

Among virgins, male and female pledgers were six time more likely to have had oral sex than non-pledgers, and male pledgers were four times more likely to have had anal sex than those who had not pledged, the research shows.

"This research confirms what we have known for a long time," says Bill Smith, vice president for public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). "Teens, regardless of whether they have a taken a virginity pledge, are engaging in behaviors that put them at risk for STDs and unintended pregnancy. It is vitally important that we provide all teens with the information and skills they need to protect themselves," Smith continues.

'Enough Is Enough'

Virginity pledges are the cornerstone of many federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Since 1982, the U.S. government has spent over a billion dollars on unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Of that billion, $620 million dollars has been spent in just the last seven years.

Under the leadership of President Bush, there has been a continued expansion of investment in these programs with $168 million allocated in Fiscal Year 2005 alone. Now, the President is seeking an all-time high of $206 million in his proposed Fiscal Year 2006 budget. These programs are prohibited from discussing contraceptives except in the context of failure rates and have never been proven effective.

"Not only do virginity pledges not work to keep our young people safe, they are causing harm by undermining condom use, contraception and medical treatment," says Smith. "Enough is enough. It is time for lawmakers to stop pushing their ideological agenda at the expense of young people and fund comprehensive and medically accurate sexuality education programs that work," Smith urges.