Just Say No

Texas Governor Rick Perry has taken an increasingly antiscience turn in his approach to governing. On global warming he now says that the leading source of "supposedly deadly carbon dioxide" is the mouth of Al Gore. On education he has appointed creationists to lead the Texas State Board of Education. And on the issue of sex ed in Texas, Perry has taken governing positions that affect millions of children based on his own personal opinions, even when those opinions are overwhelmingly contradicted by the evidence.

Texas lawmakers cut sex ed from two six-month courses to a single unit of "abstinence only" education. Early indications showed that the program wasn't working. In fact, by 2007, Texas had the highest teen birth rate in the nation.

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The results? Teen pregnancy in Texas went up, higher than before "abstinence only," and more than 50 percent higher than the national average.


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