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• n  the trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol)
• n  act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite

• Teaching kids just about abstinence won't prevent teen pregnancies and neither will focusing solely on safe sex.
• Abstinence advocates claim credit for a decline in teen pregnancies, down 17% from 1990 to 1996 nationally.
• It's currently defined so that abstinence education is required to give the advantages of abstinence and the disadvantages of sex, which means that we can't teach birth control.

• abstention

News & Articles

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• Stevie TV Episode Three: Let’s Sing About Sex
  Stevie and the "Abstinence Gang" cook up a song about how to remain godly while getting it on.
  June 15, 2013 - Vh1 Blog
• Pitbull, Ke$ha Duking It Out In Co-Billed Show
  You want to hear the virtues of abstinence and humility? Join a monastery. Pitbull and Ke$ha are in town. The dirty girl and the classy guy are on the road together in a co-billed tour that brings compatible pop but contrasting stage shows. Ke$ha cavorts
  June 13, 2013 - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Quotes

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• Cecile Richards in FOXNews
  Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the study shows that "the national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price."
• President Bush in FOXNews
  My attitude toward Congress is, see what works,Bush said. "PEPFAR is working. It is a balanced program. It is an ABC program -- abstinence, be faithful and condoms. It is a program that's been proven effective."
• Dr Richard Carmona in San Jose Mercury News
  However, there was already a policy in place that didn't want to hear the science, but wanted to quote, unquote preach abstinence, which I felt was scientifically incorrect,Carmona said.