Recent reports indicated that half of all young Americans will get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by the time they are 25 years of age. The reports showed, for example, that in the year 2000, there were 9 million new cases of STDs among Americans ages 15 to 24. The three diseases that account for 88% of the new STD cases in that age group are: human papillomavirus or genital wart virus (major cause of cervical cancer), a parasitic infection called trichomoniasis and chlamydia (can cause infertility). According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization figures, the United States has the highest STD rate of any industrialized country.

Unfortunately, many “sex education” groups use the reports to attack the federal government's policy to promote abstinence. In both cases though, mankind is once again treating the effect and not the cause.