At The Corner, Kathryn Jean Lopez thinks the following is "good sense:"

"I'm always a little bit irritated when I hear the criticism of abstinence, because abstinence is absolutely 100 percent effective in eradicating a sexually transmitted disease," Mrs. Bush said....

Let me spell this out really slowly. The question is not whether abstinence itself is effective. The question is whether spending money telling people about abstinence is effective. If people are going to have sex regardless of what you tell them at school, then if you are serious about preventing STDs, you ought to spend your energy talking about safe sex instead.

In fact, while research has shown that educating people about condom use creates lasting effects, there is not a single study demonstrating any long-term benefits from abstinence education.