Response to ACLU attack on abstinence I find it ironic that Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the NJ chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, (`Abstinence-only' policy puts teens at risk' oped, 1/22/08) advocates censoring sex education programs like "The Choice Game" that emphasize abstinence as the best and most effective choice a teenager can make to avoid pregnancy, STDs and other consequences. She also applauds Governor Corzine's decision to reject $4.5 million in federal funding for after-school programs in NJ that encourage young people ages 10-14 to delay sexual involvement and to focus on their future goals. Ms. Jacobs is a fan of "comprehensive" sex ed programs that promote the use of condoms and contraceptives, often without an honest discussion of their limitations. Does she even know that 23% of teen couples who use condoms have a pregnancy within one year (Family Planning Perspectives, Mar/Apr 1999) or that condom use provides little, if any, protection against the Human Papilloma Virus, the main cause of Cervical Cancer (National Institute for Health, 2001)? Does she know that sexually active girls in high school are three times more likely to become depressed and suicidal than girls who abstain (American Journal of Preventive Medicine 29 (3), October 2005)? Or that sexually active boys in middle school and high school also have higher risks for depression and other risky behaviors including alcohol and drug use, dropping out of school and getting into trouble with the law? Advocates of "comprehensive" sex ed claim that they give a balanced discussion of both abstinence and contraception, but a 2007 review of "comprehensive" sex ed programs by the U.S. Department of Health found that all of them had a strong bias towards the promotion of condoms and contraception with misleading statements about condom effectiveness, (mis)leading teens to believe condoms are more effective than they actually are. The curriculum with the most balanced discussion still discussed condoms and contraception seven times more than abstinence. This is "balance"? Teens who abstain from sex are half as likely to drop out of high school, twice as likely to graduate from college and can expect to earn $370,000 more in income over their lifetimes. I think most parents would agree that we want our children to understand that sex is a wonderful thing to be enjoyed when they are older and mature enough to take responsibility for all the consequences in a committed lifelong relationship. But that is a message that Deborah Jacobs and other like-minded censors don't want our young people to hear. Richard Panzer, Ph.D. Director Free Teens USA