Mississippi's Unwavering Abstinence-Only Approach: Is It Working? A decade after Mississippi mandated abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education in public schools, the state has seen a notable decline in teen pregnancies. Between 2011 and 2020, the teen pregnancy rate in Mississippi dropped by nearly 30%, a significant improvement in a state that has historically struggled with high rates of adolescent pregnancy. However, despite this progress, Mississippi still lags behind other states in terms of comprehensive sex education, and experts are left wondering whether the abstinence-only approach is truly effective in preventing teen pregnancies. As the nation continues to grapple with issues of reproductive health and education, Mississippi's experience offers a complex case study in the effectiveness of abstinence-only sex education.
In 2011, Mississippi law required public schools to teach either abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education. Despite a significant drop in teen pregnancies since 2011, Mississippi still has the ...
