Many Pro-Life supporters disagree with sex education being taught in Irish schools.

It seems that many people who disagree with abortion being made legal in Ireland agree with Irish schools teaching abstinence-only sex education at both primary and secondary levels.

There are many convincing arguments which state that abstinence-only sex education is ineffective at educating children. However people who support the pro-life movement generally disagree. They believe that abstinence-only sex education should be the only form of sex education on the Irish curriculum.

Abstinence-only sex education teaches children to never have sex outside of marriage. Often, it fails to include other types of sexual and reproductive health education such as safe sex and birth control. Research that took place at the University of Washington found that teenagers were 60 percent less likely to get pregnant when they received comprehensive sex education.

At present there are no strict requirements in relation to the sex education curriculum in Ireland.

Kevin Kehoe, a 22 year old from Waterford agrees with abortion being made legal in Ireland. He said “I definitely agree that education on sex and contraception would reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. The need for abortion would then be reduced.”

Ellen O’Donoghue, an 82 year old from Mayo strongly disagrees with abortion being made legal in Ireland. She said “I don’t think children should be taught about sex in schools at any age. It would just put ideas into their heads.”

There is an ongoing debate regarding abortion and sex education in Ireland. It has not been sufficiently proven that there is a link between abortion rates and the policy of sex education in any given place.