Abstinence pledges reduce out-of-wedlock births

NASHVILLE — Programs like “True Love Waits,” which challenge young people to abstain from sexual activity until marriage, dramatically reduce the rate of out-of-wedlock births, according to a study just released by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.  Young women who take a virginity pledge are at least 40 percent less likely to have a child out of wedlock and 12 times more likely to be virgins when they marry, compared to young women who do not make such a pledge, the study revealed.

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health tracked young people from junior high to young adulthood, beginning in 1994. The study tracked the effects of virginity pledges on teens’ actual sexual behavior.

The study concluded that public abstinence pledges made by teenagers still had an effect six years later. Pledgers are less likely to initiate sex and are more likely to marry.  (TAB)