More Young Women Educated in Religious Schools Have More Abortions

While at first blush this headline seems counter intuitive, but on reflection it makes since: abstinence only sex education doesn't work and leaves young women in schools that advocate only this approach are left ignorant of contraception methods. A new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior confirms this fact. Overall, it is in keeping with the religious extremists' refusal to accept objective fact and studies that show that comprehensive sex education leads to reduced levels of abortion. And while many such schools are strenuously anti-abortion, they in fact help increase the number of abortions. Here are some story highlights:

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A new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that young women in their teens or early twenties who have attended religious schools are more likely than their peers to get an abortion, despite their beliefs. In fact, the research points out, these girls are more likely than those in the public school system to get pregnant without being too mature or married. The findings are very weird, because private religious schools, regardless of the god they promote, pride themselves in enforcing a very strict policy as far as contacts between their students go.

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For her research, the expert kept an eye on 1,504 unmarried and never-divorced young women in 125 different schools around the United States, aged 26 or younger. The goal of the investigation was to determine exactly how religious behavior influenced the young girls' decisions to have an abortion. Other studies have shown a strong link between religion and abortion attitudes, but this correlation has thus far remained largely unstudied.

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When analyzing the variables in the research, the expert learned that neither religious involvement, nor frequency of prayer or the perception of religion's importance has any bearing on the women's decision.
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“Religious school attendance is not necessarily indicative of conservative religious beliefs because students attend these schools for a variety of reasons. These schools tend to generate high levels of commitment and strong social ties among their students and families, so abortion rates could be higher due to the potential for increased feelings of shame related to an extramarital birth,” the expert concluded.