Boston Legal Gets It Wrong About Abstinence

Boston Legal used data from a crappy study to support its statements about abstinence during tonight's episode.

This study made news about a year and a half ago because it claimed that virginity pledgers have the same rate of STD diagnosis as non virginity pledgers.

The problem is that the data is based on 21 people. 21 people were determined to be "high risk" because they engaged in anal sex without vaginal sex. These are 21 people out of a sample of over 14,000!

When you look at the larger sample, virginity pledgers are less likely to engage in sex (anal, oral, or vaginal). And those who do break their promise, engage in sex less frequently. Virginity pledgers are, overall, at lower risk for developing an STD.

They are also at lower risk for:

- Depression

- Attempted Suicide

- Children Out of Wedlock

- Live in Poverty

- Depend on Welfare

- School Expulsion

- Dropping out of School

In the episode, Alan represents a 15 year old girl who sues her school for teaching abstinence-only education, because she had unprotected sex and ended up with HIV.

In the fantasy world that is Boston Legal (and Alan Shore's perfect record), the girl wins and is awarded $750,000.

It's kind of ironic. The school taught Abstinence-Only education in order to receive federal funds (Don't worry, the Democrats will undo that in 2009).

Now they will need to rely on those federal funds even more because they're going to have to cough up $750,000.

And with the pathetic state that government education is in these days, it's a shame that Alan Shore would feel good about such a victory, but he did. And then he had casual sex in an elevator with a colleague. Hope he had a condom. They certainly missed an opportunity to provide the education they so desperately want public schools to provide.

I don't think this case would hold up in court. Why didn't the girl sue her sex partner, her parents, or even certain Hollywood starlets? Why not sue condom companies for figuring out a way to get her to buy their product?

This girl didn't want to take responsibility for her actions. She knew that unprotected sex could lead to HIV. Certainly, her abstinence-only education taught her that. And yet, she made the choice to have sex anyway.

By the way, did you know that a majority of both parents and students believe that abstinence should be taught in high school sex ed?

And call me crazy, but I want to be the one to teach my kids about sex. You want separation of church and state? Then you can't teach my kid that safe sex is ok. Because that imposes on my religion.