Joe S. McIlhaney Jr.

About the author: Joe S. McIlhaney Jr., a gynecologist and expert on sexually transmitted diseases, is the founder and president of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, an organization that provides information on health and sexuality.

Teens who are sexually active are at serious risk of becoming pregnant and contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Sex-education programs that emphasize "safer" sex are ineffective at decreasing the number of sexually active teenagers. Abstinenceonly sex-education programs eliminate the risk of teen pregnancy and disease. Many teenagers will choose abstinence and the safety it provides for their health when the risks of sexual activity are emphasized and explained.

Abstinence. What's so controversial? Parents, educators and communities want teenagers to postpone becoming sexually active, preferably until marriage, because the risks of sexual activity in the...