The religious right has inadvertently led more women to abortions. This is reflected by the religious authorities’ persistence on denial of the reality that young men and women are naturally curious and will not adhere to strict abstinence. The sooner they realize this fact, and try to work with it instead of against it, the sooner the community they serve will be better off.

Since abstinence is all that young adolescents and adults are sometimes exposed to, they lack the education that prepares them against the adverse effects of sexual intercourse, including STD’s and unintended pregnancy. It is well documented that strict abstinence teaching will not work for a population as a whole. Yet, religious authorities stubbornly try to restrict sexual education and birth control.

The deprivation of sexual education and contraceptive measures leads to a lack of contraceptive use, which leads to a higher number of unplanned pregnancies, which ultimately leads to a higher number of abortions. Therefore, religious dogma is partly responsible for many of the abortions carried out, through its promotion of sexual ignorance. Ironic, isn’t it?