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WASHINGTON, May 29, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Researchers at Catholic George Washington University are touting a new study, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, which they say shows that condom availability in schools does not increase sexual activity among teenagers. However, the study by the liberal Catholic University does not support the reported findings. As the researchers themselves admit, because the study was not designed to examine changes in condom use from pre- to post-program, its findings don’t definitively prove the condom availability programs influenced teen sexual behaviors.  Family Research Council President Ken Connor said, “If you look behind the headlines, you’ll see this study is much ado about nothing.  “Further, the much more important question than whether passing out condoms in schools will increase sexual activity among teens is, ‘What is the best way to protect teens from contracting STD’s and unwanted pregnancies?’ This study did not find condom use helped to prevent teen pregnancy. It found no differences in the pregnancy rate between girls with condom availability programs and those without. Every study out there will tell you the same thing, teens that practice abstinence don’t get STD’s and they don’t get pregnant. That is what we should be teaching them in school.  “There is a rampant increase of sexually transmitted diseases, many of which are not prevented even by correct and consistent condom use. Now, more and more doctors who treat teenagers are agreeing that the abstinence-only message is what is needed to stem the overwhelming tide of these diseases. “Making condoms available in the schools sends kids the wrong message and gives them a false sense of security that they will be protected by wearing a condom.”  The success of abstinence-based programs is being replicated around the nation. Inner city students in the Best Friends program in Washington DC were reported to have a pregnancy rate of only 1.1 percent compared to an overall city pregnancy rate among high school aged females of 26 percent.  See FRC’s “Abstinence Until Marriage: The Best Message for Teens:.  https://www.frc.org/?i=IS03B1&f=PR03E07   See the study from the Journal at:  https://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/93/6/955